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Joe Flacco was signed during the offseason to be Sam Darnold’s backup quarterback. Shortly after he was signed, however, he indicated he would be unlikely to be ready for the start of the season due to offseason neck surgery. Flacco indicated September was his likely targeted date of return.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network says Flacco remains on that projected timeframe.
#Jets backup QB Joe Flacco spent yesterday in Philadelphia seeing a specialist to check in on his progress from neck surgery. Source says there were no issues, and he’s on track to miss just one or two games. He has his final checkup early in September, but so far so good.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 8, 2020
The Jets offense cratered a year ago when Sam Darnold missed three games after a mono diagnosis. The team presumably signed the veteran Flacco with the hopes he could play functional football if called upon. The Jets’ first choice would be for Flacco to never see the field. That would mean Darnold is staying healthy. However, they would like to have the veteran available if necessary. It sounds like things are on track.
The Flacco situation sets up an interesting camp battle between David Fales and James Morgan to be the temporary backup until the veteran returns. The job might end up being extremely temporary.