Joe Flacco providing veteran leadership to quarterback room

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — Last season, Anthony Richardson was in a quarterback competition with the veteran quarterback, Garner Minshew, that was brought into the room. This year, that is not the case.

Richardson is the starting quarterback, with Joe Flacco taking the backup role. But, they have a good relationship in the quarterback room.

“He’s not going to give you much in terms of how much he’s going to stray from football in the meetings and just kind of shoot the breeze here and there,” Flacco said. “He’s a good kid and he’s an awesome athlete, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

“Man, Joe (Flacco) is like almost 20 years older than me,” Richardson said. “But no, it’s great having him in the room. He’s a vet, veteran guy that knows a lot of ball.”

Flacco comes into the season with 188 games of experience under his belt, which is a stark contract to the four games that Richardson has. However, that has been able to help the rest of the quarterback room and the offense.

“He’s seen a lot of things and to have that experience that he can share with those guys in that room, it’s invaluable for us,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said.

“I think it’s really valuable to have somebody with the experience and the sort of expertise of the position that Joe (Flacco) has,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “Joe has seen everything in this league.”

But, sometimes that experience turns into some joking questions from his teammates.

“All these young guys on the team are always looking up at you and saying ‘Man, what year is this? How old are you?’ So you’re just constantly reminded and honestly, it’s a good thing,” Flacco said. “I think you need those reminders every now and then that show you how lucky you are.”

The Colts have their first preseason game of the year on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Denver Broncos at Lucas Oil Stadium.