virtualkelly

Nope. Just teamwork -- that's where the word comes from. "There's no "I" in team -- that's where that phrase comes from. "Next man up" that's where that phrase comes from. "You're only as strong as your weakest link" that's where that comes from. "I am my brother's keeper" that's where that phrase comes from. Flacco isn't about winning -- he's about Flacco winning. If he tweeks an ankle, a minor one-game injury, and Lock goes in, fails and loses, then he's fine with that because HE'S here to win games -- when he's the quarterback. That's what it says -- at least publically. It will come back to haunt him; people don't want to pay to see a$$holes, especially when they're fading. Ask San Fran, Chicago -- and Baltimore.

It isn't hard to take a step back and see who's classy in a situation and who isn't. In this one so far, Lock, the fans, Denver, greater Colorado + the magic mushrooms, have all been pretty classy.

"We want to talk with our helmets." ??

“The shuttle hit something... pretty hard,” Lock told TMZ. Flacco's Ravenmobile.

Denver fans are as mixed on this as any other. My press sources are Fansided, Broncos Wire, Predominantly Orange, Denver Post, and the Rivals, 247 and NBC regional sites. There are a great many comments calling out Flacco. And if it wasn't an issue, why did their veteran tight end, Heuerman, TODAY make a point to tell the press he was going to help rookie Fant anyway he could because that's how he was treated when HE was a rookie -- as if to call out newbie teammate Flacco for being a jerk. Lastly, the Flacco trade was an eyeroller of meh, he's not elite, and just read Baltimore press if you don't believe me.

Oskie, Not personal, dude. Not personal. And you can't troll your own fanpage.

And yet, if he instead acts like Alex Smith, Flacco can be a transitional QB for the next 4 years playing no better than .500 clear until he's 40, getting lots of chicks, $8-million a year on 3 different teams, see the countryside, have fans buying him beers and gummy bears at the carwash -- and retire a good guy. Then divorce, get a fresh supermodel wife, take an analyst job with the network -- and STILL go to Heaven. Nahhhh. I think I'll be a Flacco instead.

Evidently, they're indeed different forums. You can't count handles like Iluvceefs, raidrfreightr, and chargerbarger as Denver fans, you know. Neither perspective is less lip-service than the other: to focus or to be a good teammate. The difference is one is dip-lo-matic and the other is dip-lo-$hit.

I've already beaten this horse to death, but it's bad PR for the Broncos with their fans because he said something publically -- when he could have said little or nothing. If you read the Denver forums, they think Flacco's now an a$$ -- and their season hasn't even started. How many more years does being an A$$ put onto your contract exactly? Of course, winning will erase the a$$ thing -- until the winning stops and then back comes the a$$. Lock and Fant were in a shuttle wreck at LAX this morning, so Lock was back in the news on TMZ -- and guess what -- he was put on the spot about how he feels about Flacco. He said all the diplomatic stuff of course, because he already get it. But I guess no one in the Bronco organization considered that a kid having to address the QB1's childishness might be a distraction as well. People can talk QB "focus" all they want, but Flacco was and always has been a transitional guy the day his stats went flat in 2013 and he turned 35 this year -- all while forgetting the NFL is 90% marketing -- so no bucks -- no Buck Rogers, only the a$$ remains.

OK. This is funny. ^^^

Ah, the obligatory comment by Elway to settle the fans and pump up his little Flacco. Next, the obligatory nice-guy comment by Lock saying he's getting all he ever expected and "he's simply here to help the team win." Then the Nat'l Geriatric Society will say Flacco shouldn't feel pressured because of his age and we recommend he "get athletic shoes with velcro straps instead of laces." The American Association of Teachers will say, "I guess Flacco's expected to buy pencils and paper and coach the debate team after practice too." Then the fans go, "Hon, let's just stay home and watch Netflix like Arizona fans." Tom Brady will say, "Who's Flacco."

It isn't so much what they do as what they say -- publicly. But I obsess.

Tiger, Flacco at 35 doesn't need anyone to tell him he's a short-timer -- it's automatic that he's a transitional QB when he hits that age, especially as a 6-year meh player. To say otherwise might be great clickbait on the AARP site, but it isn't reality. He's not multi-Super Bowl Tom Brady; he couldn't even hold his job at Baltimore while not helping THAT young QB either; and there's no crying in football! He isn't Brett Favre; nonetheless, even Favre only had one good year left after Green Bay, despite playing three more. What he did was put the coaching staff into the position of publically negating Lock's first-team reps to appease Flacco's bruised former-Raven ego. The OC had announced doing a "mixed-in" approach to reps. Not anymore, now it's 2s and 3s only. He almost assured the crowds will be yelling for Lock by game 6, out by game 12, and Lock will be ill-prepared. Selfish. Flacco hurt the new team and shortened his own marketability until 40 as a bridge quarterback, like Alex Smith (who is smart). He signed his own career early termination papers -- all because his 100 million-dollar feelings got hurt.

SCar will not beat Mizzou this year. Bryant is a more SEC/college-appropriate quarterback, where Lock was heavy pro-style for this league -- there is more flexibility with Bryant. Mizzou returns 8 of 11 starters on offense from last year. They are the "quiet company" and that is fine, but you will not beat Mizzou.

The only dig I have against Cuonzo is how he coaches Tilmon. Sometimes I think he sends a counterproductive message to the young center when he can't get the results he wants -- thereby, only making it worse. This is more a reflection on coaching than the kid. I think he can do better with Tilmon in finding the right buttons.

Welcome Kobe. Plays like a big guard and likes to play that way. Useful in the 4-guard lineup when you don't want to look like it.

Good luck to the kid -- he's doing what's necessary.

I don't think this is a good idea.

Words don't mean anything to the playoff bracket and that's the only thing that will cause him to "lose his starting job." Not mentoring Lock. But words mean a lot to fans, media and ultimately coaches -- and they remember. One doesn't provide them ammunition. Because on a so-so day, that WILL cost you your job. Flacco's 35. His vetranship should be expected by those who continue to write checks for a guy who is waning and knows his time is limited. He knows better than to take such a petty public stance, ESPECIALLY if it's nonsense lip-service anyway. Now, with his career potentially over in a whisp, do you think Alex Smith takes any personal pride in having mentored Mahomes? Did he gain any street cred by doing so? Respect? You bet he did. Now he's the coauthor of the "Kansas City method" for as long as that phrase lasts -- plus it got him a killer contract in Washington, where I'm sure they were looking to ultimately replace his aging body too.

I don't understand Flacco's response. It just builds-in excuses for everyone but himself. If he stinks and Lock goes in and fails, it will appear as if it's Flacco's lack of cooperation. If Flacco is functional, he's still 35 years old but not helping the team's future. I think he has bad blood from the Ravens and he's just carrying it over. It's not his best image to the fans, though.

Now that's some good character.

And this, my friends, is EXACTLY what happens when you take the "way too early" prognosticators and give them magic mushrooms.

Local fans and media -- or local media and fans -- are amping up the hype, as is normal. Such pressure can speed up timelines. I hope it doesn't and Lock gets the time he needs to have a positive impact from the start.

"This isn’t the nature of advanced scheduling for most SEC teams as most would never consider such a thing. This is a small fry thing." No, it's an honor thing -- all things being equal -- yet neither honor or parity are SEC stongsuits. If that's your point as well, then I agree.

Congrats to the kid.

"How Mizzou got roped into that [Wyoming] series, I don’t know." It's probably a rhetorical conundrum, but as I understand it, Mizzou's home and home gig came out of loyalty. When Mizzou's lauded offensive coordinator, Dave Christiansen, took the Wyoming HC job, Coach Pinkel did him a solid to help him bolster his schedule around 2011-2012 as Mizzou was struggling to fill their schedule after announcing leaving the B-12 anyway. Pinkel did the same with DC Coach Steckel when he went to Missouri State as HC. "Loyalty" and "show me" are philosophical tropes at Mizzou, usually in a good way. Christiansen, of course, didn't last that long, famously got mad during a Wyoming game against Air Force and cussed HC Troy Calhoun calling him a "fly boy," which was universally frowned upon. That, plus his up and down success, ultimately got him fired. But the scheduled games remained. So Mizzou wheels into Wyoming, Christiansen is a journeyman, now at Arizona State under Herm Edwards, and Pinkel has been retired for 4 years. Such is the nature of advanced scheduling.

I looked for video yesterday but got only some way-wide stuff. I'm sure the Denver folks like seeing him in a Bronco jersey. It sort of stabilizes things and finally marks his transition to his next level. And as I've written here before, good coaches are stoic for a reason.

I'll have to take a shower after agreeing with you but the goofy dance designed to loosen up the QB, while being aloof to the other players, might not have been the best idea. Coaches are stoic (or simply angry) for a reason.

I agree. I think parents are getting involved with this now and I don't blame them. I think I would as well if it involved my kid. But indeed there is a lot of time to effort getting these kids back. I think the message Mullens sent to the Steele kid came off as "shut up and we'll see this summer." Not good for parents. Policy is a bad thing when it fails.

blitz, Anything is a possibility because the machine that runs PR is broken. We don't know; unfortunately, neither do incoming kid's parents evidently. When this happens, it does not bode well on the administrators. The coach needs to speak to the issues he can address legally now, like the Steele issue. I don't see the Catch-22 because there has already been failed procedures (regarding room assignment policy; Jones suspension timing, et al). There is little hope of it improving organically. There is so much time left before 2020 and 2021, these events will be just bumps in the road by then. But the temptation to knee-jerk and blame the kids is not viable. As a parent, that just doesn't wash.