Ravens are expecting a lot of QB Flacco

To be a third-year pro in 2010 season, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has shown some talent in football through performance in the past two seasons, and the team indeed has much expectation out of him.

According to reports, Ravens offensive coordinator and new quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn had Flacco spend a week at the University of Southern California earlier this month where he trained with a pitching coach. The purpose of the baseball workout is to strengthen the smaller muscles surrounding his throwing shoulder to upgrade his arm strength, accuracy, durability and longevity, all the elements for being a great quarterback.

Besides, the Ravens have also signed three star wide receivers from the free agent market: Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and Donte’ Stallworth. Even the new quarterback coach Zorn was a special choice for Flacco as Zorn himself was used to be an NFL quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks. All the efforts made are for one goal: to make Joe a championship quarterback.

“There are terms like ‘elite quarterback’ and ‘franchise quarterback.’ All of those things are where we expect Joe to go. He does even more so than we do. You know how Joe is. He already thinks he’s the best quarterback in the NFL,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh during the NFL owners meetings at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes. “But he knows that he’s always going to have a lot of work to do. I know physically he needs to get stronger. Mentally, he needs to get sharper. Technique-wise, he needs to get more pronounced. But the expectation is to be the winningest quarterback in the NFL.”

What Flacco needs to do is simply to prove he deserves the high expectation. Actually, he has proven to be capable of winning. The former first-round draft pick has helped the Ravens appear in playoff for two consecutive seasons since he put on the Ravens jersey in 2008. Despite several painful injuries like sprained ankle and badly bruised thigh and hip, he still managed to complete 63.1 percent of his throws for a career-high 3,613 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Browns still have no decision on QB Quinn

The Cleveland Browns’ new team president Mike Holmgren is still thinking whether to start Brady Quinn at quarterback in 2010 season. Probably he is also thinking whether to keep him with the team.

“I’ve met him one time,” Holmgren told the Canton Repository. “He seems very sincere. I think he’s a hard-working guy. I think he cares. He’s physically kind of what you want, so … I would ask the question that probably fans would ask. I’m going, OK … what’s happened? And that’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

As former coach for Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre and Matt Hasselbeck, Holmgren knows well what a great quarterback should be like. By so far he has not made final decision about Quinn, and the hesitation itself may show that there is possibility for Quinn to stay in the Browns jersey, but he may need to do more things to convince the new team president.

Raiders QB Frye will start against his former team

The Oakland Raiders quarterback Charlie Frye has been cleared to play after sustaining a concussion during the game against the Denver Broncos last week and will start Sunday’s game against his former team, the Cleveland Browns, ruling out JaMarcus Russell’s chance to re-gain his starting job.

Frye was injured after being hit by a linebacker wearing Broncos jersey in the fourth quarter of the Raiders’ 20-19 win. Russell replaced him and directed a game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes. Even before he was cleared by team doctors, Coach Tom Cable had been unwilling to consider Russell to be the starter. Now as he wished, Frye will be able to start again after the team signed quarterback Jeff Otis to their practice squad.

But it still remains uncertain who will be the starter for the final game as Bruce Gradkowski, who was starting ahead of Frye before tearing the medial collateral ligaments in both of his knees, is expected to return to practice later this week and still has the chance to play against the Browns.