[Blogs] Flacco Weighs In On QB Coaches Move

[ravensdfan]

While there is a part of me that thinks firing Zorn was a good idea, it doesn't mesh with the whole "continuity" message we were getting prior to this point. We promoted Pagano, because "continuity is key". We stuck with Cam Under Fire, because "continuity is key". It is apparent that they sought Joe's opinion prior to Zorn being fired and then went with what Cam wanted. How do you perform your job on a sub par level and then get carte blanch on what you want and a promotion (so to speak)? It took a 7 hour meeting to determine you were going to fire Zorn? Why? Because the firing is not related to him doing his job. It was a meeting that included Cam and from all reports it appears this is a Cam issue. He and Zorn could not mesh. Harbaugh distinctly said he was looking for player input. Then he ignores it in this case. I'm sure the other players have plenty to say on the Cam issue (as they did during the season) but will Harbaugh ignore it yet again?

Everyone keeps saying this is a CBA issue. That is the only reason Cam is still here. I disagree. I think these events point to something else. It is Harbaugh's refusal to hold Cam accountable. I hope they iron out a CBA very soon. I'd like to see if Cam exits then. I'm guessing no he won't. This whole fiasco is on Harbaugh now. And I think it's very likely to blow up in his face.

[floridafan]

Everyone is hoping for things to blow up in the coaches faces. I can not believe my eyes when I read things like that. We have gone to the playoffs 3 years in a row and I know we have not made it all the way but you HAVE to be proud of the Ravens and their organization anyway. Our best years are yet to come. I am a optimist NOT a pessimist. Go Ravens.

[ravensdfan]

[quote name='floridafan' timestamp='1296387121' post='628600']
Everyone is hoping for things to blow up in the coaches faces. I can not believe my eyes when I read things like that. We have gone to the playoffs 3 years in a row and I know we have not made it all the way but you HAVE to be proud of the Ravens and their organization anyway. Our best years are yet to come. I am a optimist NOT a pessimist. Go Ravens.
[/quote]

Did I say I was hoping for it? No. I said I think it is likely to blow up in his face. Being an optimist is fine but you can't ignore the facts in the process. Joe is not the only player to vent his frustration about Cam. Locker room drama does not translate well onto the playing field. In keeping Cam, they have sent a message (whether intended or not) that they are putting the offensive failure squarely on the shoulders of the players. They have now in firing Zorn and giving Cam more control, further sent that message. While there were execution issues (no one is saying there were none) there were way more issues with the play calling this season. Way more issues with how players were used (or not used). That falls on the OC. As I said before, all this blame is being laid at the feet of others. Not yet have I heard anyone put even one iota of it on Cam. Nor has Cam taken any responsibility. This is not a recipe for a successful offseason.

[floridafan]

I do not know what happens in the locker room and could care less. I care what happens on the field and I am quite sure the Ravens care as well. Does anyone honestly believe the Ravens do not want to improve and in their mind this is the way to do it. Only time will tell who is right and who is wrong so for the time being I will stick with whatever they decide to do.

This is just my opinion my friend. I did not mean to insult yours.

[ravens4lifeordeath]

Flacco needs to shut up and put up. Either he's right or Harb is right. He is in not place to question that decision. He blew it against Steelers.

[bioLarzen]

"John's going to be make sure things are ran (...)"

I'm sorry, but... isn't there an editor - or at least a proofreader in the blog's staff?

bio

[bioLarzen]

"I also feel like a little bit like I'm being attacked, - Flacco said. - You fire the quarterback coach. Usually when your fire a position coach, it's because you’re not really happy with how that position did."

Well, not neccessarily true - it can also happen when the QB was successful, so the coach did a good job - but there's an even better coach available.

If Cameron is one - we'll see (read: LOL).

bio

[Ravenest!]

I like Flacco but, I don't think he has reached the level to be openly critizing management's decisions. Yes, his stats improved thisyear. But, He holds the ball too long, takes far too long to release the quick out, same with the crossing pattern, dumps the ball off to Rice too often, and still does not sense the 'blind side'.
I think he should work on improving those and let managemnet worry abouyt the 'big picture"
We love you, Joe, but you aren't there yet.

[RavenNRaiderLuv]

Joe - Joe - Joe. Well, if numbers told the entire story, I guess he did have a good year. But, watch the game film Joe. You have a lot of growing and playmaking to do my friend. Here are a few things for you to focus on.

1. Stop eyeing down your receivers.
2. Utilize all your offensive weapons. You have more receivers on the filed than Todd Heap and Derrick Mason.
3. Learn to read defenses a little better.
4. And this should have been number 1. Try not to hold the ball for 8 seconds while standing in the pocket. Heck, fixing this problem may even make our O-Line not look soo terrible.

Now, the part that does scare me a bit is Cam Cameron having a bigger role in the Quarterback coaching. He has enough problems coming up with a viable Offensive gameplan.

And in parting......Joe, you are on a team that is expected to win the superbowl my friend. You are expected to win the close, big game and you have not done that. In fact, your play and the offensive scheme made a bunch of games this past season closer than they should have been. Look at any game that we won. We gave up soo many 4th quarter leads simply because our "D" can't be on the field for 70 plays. Joe, you may want to consider getting a first down or two in the 2nd half of games my friend. Sustain a few drives and our "D" will lead us to the promise land yet again.

[BoominRaven]

gotta love how many people on here are bashing flacco right now.. honestly these are the kinds of comments we need him to be making, we wanted a more vocal joe and now we're starting to get one - hopefully with that comes better decision making and vision downfield before boldin kills him. lol

[ravenhaven12]

READ THIS: this is the FIRST time i've actually been disappointed with this website, they didn't think Joe saying "I'm disappointed and they know I'm disappointed, I don't think it was a good decision, and they know that. I expressed that throughout the whole time it was going on, I expressed how much I didn't think it would be good for us. My opinion isn't going to change." was worth adding in this article? they didn't think "I'm not happy about it," Flacco added. "They know that I'm not happy about it. It's not news to them. ... I'm not going to be happy about it, for a long time." was worth putting in? really!? it's almost like they are sugar coating it, tell the whole story, Joe isn't "a little upset", HE'S PISSED OFF!! and as a reader of these articles you should be wondering why these quotes weren't interesting enough to make it into this article.

[ravens4lifeordeath]

Who cares what flacco thinks about the decision. until he becomes a brady, manning, roethlis, rivers, rodgers, brees, etc., he is like every other player who makes millions and millions. shut your hole and do your job. had you not choked, zorn would still have a job. it's on you. stop blaming anyone else. you clearly think too much of your performance. you need a reality check. we screwed up by not playing bulger to see what he could do with this offense.

[JimA3_3]

Sounds more like OUR OWN PR dept is trying to stir up crap.
Missed quotes and adding words... Is this the National Inquirer ??

[RavenNRaiderLuv]

I don't think playing Bulger was the right thing to do. Joe is our QB and he should be. He has earned his spot on this team. He simply needs to progress. Let's keep in mind folks, he is a young QB. He started from day 1 on this team. He didn't have the benefit of sitting behind a HOF QB like Rodgers did in Green Bay.

However, Joe does need to take some of the responsibility for Zorn being let go and the rest of that responsibility should be squarely on Zorn's shoulders. I'm not sure the increase in Joe's numbers were a result of him getting better or simply a result of more weapons around him.

In my eyes, next season is a do-or-die situation for us. Our Defense will only be a top 5 "D" for soo long and when Ray and Ed retire, we will be in trouble. Joe needs to win one while this "D" is still on it's game or he may never get a chance to win one. Ask Dan Marino how hard it is to win a superbowl. Or ask Cal Ripken how hard it is to win a World Series. The window of opportunity is closing quickly on the Ravens and that responsibility rests solely on Joe Flacco's shoulders at this point. It's a tough spot to be in Joe but, it is what it is.

[DefenseWinsItAll]

[quote name='BoominRaven' timestamp='1296392355' post='628617']
gotta love how many people on here are bashing flacco right now.. honestly these are the kinds of comments we need him to be making, we wanted a more vocal joe and now we're starting to get one - hopefully with that comes better decision making and vision downfield before boldin kills him. lol
[/quote]
i think people meant by that was they wanted a more vocal joe on the field as in making some audibles and show some leadership skills.. flacco just wouldnt be a good leader for the offense maybe a boldin, mcclain or a houshmandzadeh someone that doesnt get intimidated. flacco sometimes gets that deer in the headlights look especiialy vs pittsburgh and everytime i see that face i get in my negative thoughts because thats when flacco starts imploding and makes mistakes. i say ravens draft a QB this year in the later rounds we dont have a backup if bulger dont resign

[ibleedpurpleandblack]

I have been very critical of Flacco but for him to step up and speak this about Zorn only solidifies my opinion even further that the real issue of our offense lies heavily on Cam. Now Cam has more accountability for the failings of the offense. The real reason why I think Harbs has decided to "rebuild" the offense is come game 4 if the offense is performing and he is forced to make a decision of his job or Cams job, Cam will be fired and he will actually have a clue of what the offensive scheme is...

Joe, yeah your numbers may have gone up but you still have a lot of room to grow up - your play still looks like your rookie year, stop starring down your receiver, learn to read defenses better, learn to read both sides of the field, learn to move around in the pocket, learn to keep your eyes down field when scrambling, learn not to run out of bounds with the ball when you are behind the line of scrimmage...good luck next year Joe cause i really feel this will be your last year to prove either you are the future or another QB bust of the Ravens

[The Greek]

how long did it take elway and manning to win a superbowl i believe he was in his 13th year and manning in his 10th, i strongly believe flacco will help lead this team to a couple superbowls. he just finished his 3rd year. i will take playoffs and no superbowl every year than have this team be like the redskins and lions. those of you that are impatient need to look for a new team.

[The Greek]

a qb can only do so much without a consistent deep threat, quick slants and a presence exposing the middle of the field. not all the blame is cams alone. the front office has struggled bringing this team a dominating wr for a long time. i think boldin will be the possesion receiver but we need an infusion of youth at the position

[fistfullwales]

Joe seems pissed, maybe hes more pissed about Cam still being here like everyone else.

[POE]

You know this whole "window of opportunity" stuff that everybody loves to bring up is kind of funny. I agree that maybe the window of opportunity for some of the vets like Ray, Ed, Todd and others may be closing if we don't go and win a SB soon, and those guys deserve one more than anybody because of the way they have played and as dominating as they have been over the years in my opinion, but this team is built great from the top on down not the other way around. We have a great owner who puts trust in his FO and coaching staff to produce and that leads to success. WE have one of, if not the best GM, in the game wit in Ozzie Newsome and he has proved that year after year. The Ravens window of opportunity will never close but only those vets' will if they don't find a way to close out games. We have a very young offense that has improved year after year and with a few more additions it could be a dominating one in the NFL. Our D will need some youth plugged in, in some positions and hopefully can stay in the top 10 but don't lose hope fellas, this team will win championships!

[birdland blitz]

yikes. Shouldn't the team check with the quarterbacks before firing the quarterbacks coach?

[DefenseWinsItAll]

[quote name='greekboy' timestamp='1296396382' post='628629']
how long did it take elway and manning to win a superbowl i believe he was in his 13th year and manning in his 10th, i strongly believe flacco will help lead this team to a couple superbowls. he just finished his 3rd year. i will take playoffs and no superbowl every year than have this team be like the redskins and lions. those of you that are impatient need to look for a new team.
[/quote]
lol manning & elway would be in the superbowl every year if they had the ravens defense. manning would be in the superbowl every year if he had ray rice anquan boldin tj houshmandzadeh leron mcclain todd heap as his offense. flacco is surrounded by pro bowlers and future hall of famers. in fact the ravens had more pro-bowlers on their roster than any other team last year (16 i think it was) so no excuses why ravens should be in dallas this week.. once every 13 years? sorry we are baltimore we have higher standards than that, i dont know about you all but i expect a couple superbowls a decade from this team. i keep my standards high. us ravens fans need to keep the standard here in baltimore. some teams would be happy they got to the playoffs elite teams should be mad they lost out and not playing in the superbowl. 3 playoffs appearances in a row big deal all that means to me is 3 years of late round picks in the draft

[W.BMore]

you can only put so many weapons around Joe! If Joe doesn't get it done next year we should look for someone who can! we have more talent one offense then any other team in the NFL so we need to get it done! LETS GO!

[Hammar88]

If you don't like Flacco ,oh well you are stuck with him unless you switch teams. Yeah he is not perfect,but what QB is? Funny how people bring up Manning or Brady and they didn't make it this season. WR's aren't perfect either. Yeah , they drop passes too. I mean I am pissed they didn't go to the dance this year,but dang I think they deserve a pat on the back on what they did accomplish this season.

[Michael K]

Just a quick note on joe's statement: "We%u2019d like to win a little bit more than we have the last couple of years, but, hey, that%u2019s how it goes sometimes." I like that Joe is able to put the last play or the last game behind him quickly and move on but I am beginning to think that he needs to remember a few of those things a little longer. The difference between Joe hosting the Polar Bear Plunge (Yeah Joe!) and being in Dallas preparing for Superbowl XLV probably comes down to a few plays that could have gone either way. This is not like 2008 when Joe and the Ravens got some breaks and they played beyond everyone's expectations. This season, they played below everyone's expectations. They could have won every game they played so every game they lost, they allowed to slip out of their hands. There is no single individual responsible for this. It's a dropped pass or missed tackle here or a bad play call or poor throw there. YOU CAN'T FIX THOSE THINGS UNLESS YOU TAKE THEM A LITTLE PERSONALLY AND REMEMBER THEM EVERY TIME YOU TAKE THE FIELD. YOU MUST GET ON TO THE NEXT PLAY BUT YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THE ATTITUDE THAT "that%u2019s how it goes sometimes".

Remember the immortal Lombardi quote: %u201CShow me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser.%u201D

[NCRaven]

Flacco doesn't get it... Getting to the playoffs and then having the QB choke every year isn't good enough.. He needs to take some personal responsibility and say he doesn't accept how we fall short with the same script every year.. Instead he shrugs his shoulders and say "Ge shucks", we just came up short, but had a good year. Never heard Tom Brady or Peyton Manning accept the team's shortcomings so easily..

[jgm1005]

Seriously is there anyone posting that is actually happy with this team (players and coaches)? This is the first time the Ravens have gone to the playoffs three straight years. It amazes me how the finger pointing starts, fire Cam, replace Flacco, fire Harbaugh, when they don't make it to the Superbowl.

Think back to 2008, team takes the field with rookie QB and Coach. Make the playoffs and have a major running attack. Cam seemed to do a good job that year So what happens in 2009 and 2010, that 3 head monster run game disappears. . What changed? 2009 is the year they brought Al Saunders in as an adviser. Given his offensive style is to air it out, has anyone considered the fact that maybe they bought into his ways a little too much? Through the year we heard about simplifying the game play. Is it possible Cam was being pushed to use Al's offensive style? Given the Ravens do not have any speed receivers, its hard to make an Air Coryell offense work. I think we see a completely difference offense that gels and works this coming season with Al out of the picture.

As for Zorn, glad he is gone. Didn't like the idea when they brought him in. Think about, the guy threw more int's than TD's, lifetime 69 passer rating, never went to the playoffs, and the QB's he help develop are Hasselbeck and Charlie Batch. Really? Is this who you'd want mentoring and coaching a QB?

[choombatta]

Thank you for making me feel less insane, jgm1005!

[PIG 20]

IMO, I don't think Cam and Joe get along all that well. In the 3 years that Joe has been QB this is the first time where I have seen him have a "negative" type interview about something the front office did. Good for Joe.

[MastaKi]

Flacco needs to Please be quiet.. He is talking like he really led this team to the play offs. You could have put any decent QB in the league with this team and gone to the playoffs. Please dont talk about Flaccos stats cuz it seems like it shows his progress but in real life he threw less interceptions to get more sacks on him. He still dont know how to throw the ball away. Dont get me wrong i like Flacco, but he is is not in a postion nor is he at a level to take anything personally.