Without context, it would appear that Joe Flacco took a shot a beleaguered free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. With context, that certainly wasn't the case, but taken at face value his quotes seemed a bit harsh.
Flacco is currently injured, out with a back injury, and the Ravens have apparently been mulling over bringing in Kaepernick. Flacco is out for an unknown amount of time, and even though backup Ryan Mallett does have potential, it would make sense for Baltimore to look at Kaepernick if Flacco needs to miss any significant amount of time.
That's all up in the air still, but that didn't stop reporters from asking Flacco his thoughts on Baltimore bringing in Kaepernick — a lighting rod of controversy because of his protest against the National Anthem and all the social implications and angst that came along with it.
CBS Baltimore recorded the quarterback's thoughts on his colleague, though some of what he said does seem a bit harsh at first glance:
"We need an extra arm in here right now and Colin's a guy who is out there. If I'm him, I wanna play football right now. I know that we need an arm and who knows what John and all the upstairs guys are thinking at this point. I think at this point I'm really open to anything. You can do whatever you want at this position cause I feel like I'm the quarterback and it doesn't really matter. I'd like to see Colin get back in and at some point get another shot, I wouldn't like that to be here, I don't want him to get another shot here. But he can come here and have some fun, I think it'll be a good spot for him."
The "I wouldn't like it to be here" part of Flacco's statements will get all the attention, but again, that's when taken out of context.
Out of context, it appears that Flacco is saying he'd like Kaepernick to get a shot, just not with his team.
In context, though — and video helps with that — it's rather clear that Flacco was joking when saying that. He'd like Kaepernick to get a shot and he seems to think Baltimore would be a good fit. It seems that Flacco was jokingly worried about a quarterback controversy over any off the field controversy that could come along with a Kaepernick signing, though.
Flacco is dealing with stiffness in his back, and with just weeks before the NFL officially gets underway, that's something the Ravens will likely want to be cautious with.
Though the original diagnosis had Flacco missing 3-6 weeks, he recently said that he hopes to be back within a week and he isn't planning on missing any of the Ravens' 2017 season.
Perhaps Kaepernick won't be needed, after all. But if the Ravens do decide to look to him as a safety valve, it's clear Flacco won't have a problem with it.
