You don’t think Joe Flacco has stepped it up in team leadership during this lockout?
Just ask rookie WR Torrey Smith.
Flacco invited Smith and undrafted DB Antwine Perez of Maryland (Torrey’s old teammate) to spend the day yesterday at Flacco’s home and work out in a passing drill with him.
Flacco lives about 3 hours north of Baltimore in a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia.
Ryan Mink did a nice piece on the workout in the June 14 edition of his blog at BaltimoreRavens.com.
Torrey Smith (left) and Joe Flacco pose for an informal photo of their voluntary workout in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Pretty inspirational stuff, seeing as Smith isn’t even signed, yet…
“Just got done running routes and talking about the playbook with Flacco,” Smith tweeted, including a photo of himself and Flacco.
A fan asked Smith how the workout went via Twitter.
“Great!!! timing was perfect last pass was a 70 yrd bomb,” Smith responded.
Flacco said at the earlier team workouts in May that the rookies are the ones being most hurt by the lockout, and that was the most important part about getting together.
“To get those guys out here and show them the way a little bit so they can have some stuff they can work on is a big deal,” Flacco said. “Because if we need to – and we’re going to want to – we’ll be able to use these guys.”
I love hearing about Flacco taking the time to practice with the young talent during this lockout. Smith is showing a lot of work ethic, too, and I’m excited to see what he can do out on the field this year…
Joe is really stepping up and taking control as “spiritual leader” of the Ravens offense… If he can translate that to the field of play I think we are looking at exactly what they drafted him for. And this kid Torrey Smith has as much charisma as any player in the NFL short of Ray Lewis. He is a born leader, too, and a straight shooter…
“All of the great ones, they take ownership of the offense – it’s their offense,” General Manager Ozzie Newsome said in May. “And right now, that’s where Joe Flacco has to get to in order for him to take it to the next step. And I think he’s more than ready to do it.”
It was just a voluntary workout among three young men—a QB, a top-draft wideout, and an undrafted defensive back to simulate coverage. But it is also a major statement by Joe Flacco to the Jamie Duke’s (NFL Network analyst) of the world who have been ripping Joe lately for poor leadership under pressure.
Jamie Dukes should have been there in Jersey on Tuesday. I think he’d start changing his tune on Flacco.
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