Jets’ Joe Flacco Cleared For Full Practice

Joe Flacco‘s hopes of a Week 3 return turned out to be realistic. The veteran quarterback received medical clearance to participate fully in the Jets’ Wednesday practice, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).

While next to nothing has gone right for the 0-2 team this season — one riddled with injuries on offense — the Jets’ one-year Flacco contract looks set to give Sam Darnold a veteran backup for 14 games (health-permitting, at least). Flacco has not played since Week 8 of last season. He underwent neck surgery this offseason but received an opportunity to join former Ravens exec Joe Douglas with the Jets.

This will be the first season Flacco enters as a backup. A starter with the Ravens for 10 1/2 seasons and with the Broncos for the first half of the 2019 campaign, the former Super Bowl MVP has started all 171 games in which he has appeared. A hip injury ended Flacco’s Ravens QB1 run and began Lamar Jackson‘s ascent, and Flacco has searched for a fit since.

The Jets acquired Flacco after drafting James Morgan in the fourth round. It will be the 35-year-old veteran set to take snaps in the event of a Darnold absence this year. Darnold has missed time in each of his two NFL seasons. A foot injury cost him three games in 2018, and a mononucleosis bout sidelined him for three contests last season.

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