Joe Flacco went up against his former team, the New York Jets, on Thursday night and made them pay.
Flacco led the Cleveland Browns to a 37–20 win at home, moving to 11–5 on the season and securing a spot in the playoffs.
While Flacco and the Browns offense put on a show against the Jets defense, with the veteran quarterback throwing for 309 yards and three touchdowns, there were no hard feelings between him and the Jets after the game.
“So happy for you man,” injured Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers told Flacco near midfield. “Keep balling, man.”
Flacco then reunited with a few of his old teammates, including an adorable exchange with cornerback Justin Hardee, who grew up in Cleveland.
“You know this is my city, man?” Hardee asked. “It’s my city. Bring my city a ‘ship.”
Everyone’s rooting for Joe Flacco 🥹 (via @NFLFilms)#InsideTheNFL Tuesdays 8/7c on @TheCW pic.twitter.com/OWsO9lMxKr
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2024
Before returning to football in the middle of the 2023 season as the Browns were scrambling to fill out their QB depth chart, Flacco had been out of the NFL, having last played for the Jets in 2022.
The Jets didn’t call Flacco after Rodgers’s injury in the first game of the year. But the Browns brought him in midseason and the match has been as good as either party could have hoped for, with Flacco throwing for 300 yards and at least two touchdowns in each of his five starts so far and the Browns in the playoffs.
Flacco had only positive things to say about the Jets, even after they didn’t bring him in after Rodgers’s injury, and it appears that his old teammates in New York are wishing him only the best moving forward with the Browns.
