Bengals offensive linemen getting up to speed on blocking for new QB Flacco

Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras was taking a nap Tuesday, his day off from work.

When he woke up and checked his phone, he saw 15 missed calls. He slept through the news that he would be snapping the ball to a new quarterback at practice Wednesday.

The Bengals traded for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco in hopes of saving their season.

“Really excited,” Karras said after practice Wednesday. “I’ve been very blessed with good QB play in my career, and this is another guy that I can learn from and, really, he’s done a lot of good throughout his career. Year 18, not the oldest guy on the team anymore.”

Of all players on the team, Karras needs to spend the most time with Flacco ahead of Cincinnati’s Week 6 road matchup against the Green Bay Packers.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor said the expectation is that Flacco will start.

The QB-center exchange is a critical part of getting a play off in an NFL offense, specifically on the road, when the Bengals likely will have to be on a silent count.

“We went over silent cadence today,” Karras said. “Just hit him with our base rules. Went out to practice, had to walk through and practice (was) very smooth. He’s a vet, obviously, a true professional, and has done this a few times. So went really smooth today. Thought we had a good practice. He came in, was ready to go today and really a pleasure to snap to Joe Flacco.”

Karras is a 10-year veteran. He has worked with several quarterbacks, but this is an unusual circumstance. It’s rare in the NFL for a team to acquire a new starting quarterback midway through the week and he starts Sunday.

The Bengals believe Flacco can pull it off, though.

Cincinnati’s coaching staff has until Sunday morning to get Flacco up to speed on the offense and ensure he’s comfortable with the game plan. The good news? Flacco already has faced the Packers once this season when he was the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. The Browns won 13-10, and Flacco completed 21 of 36 passes for 142 yards and interception.

“He’s played Green Bay this year, so he’s already gone through a week of prep,” Taylor said of feeling comfortable starting Flacco. “That’s the nice part. The communication and the weekly rhythm is maybe different and unique. He’s already prepared for this opponent. He gets a chance to refresh himself on that, while, at the same time, learning our system and our terminology and our verbiage and how we operate.”

Starting right tackle Amarius Mims is especially excited to block for one of his football idols.

Mims vividly remembers when he was 4 years old, watching his two favorite quarterbacks: Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Flacco when he was the quarterback of the Ravens.

Now he gets to block for one of them.

“I just think it’s wild,” Mims said. “I was like, dang, I’m actually getting to block for him. Like, first Joe Burrow, you know, Jake Browning’s a good quarterback, too, but not Joe Flacco. Like, I grew up watching him. Like, that was my idol growing up.”

There is an 18-year age gap between Flacco (40) and Mims (22).

No one inside the Bengals’ facility seems to be worried about Flacco’s age, though. The offensive line will have to protect really well against the Packers to give Flacco a chance to use his powerful arm to get the ball to receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Only time will tell what happens, but there’s no denying the addition of Flacco has breathed new life inside the walls of Paycor Stadium. The team is hoping to act on it at Lambeau Field.

“He’s a smart quarterback,” Mims said. “He knows the ins and outs of all the systems he’s played against. He knows a lot. I’m extremely confident.”