Joe Flacco walked slowly through the locker room Monday without using crutches, minutes after the team wrapped up their final meeting of the year.
Less than a month out of surgery to repair his torn ACL and MCL, Flacco met with the media for the first time since the procedure on Dec. 8.
"It's going really well," he said about the recovery. "I can't ask for any more. I'm just kind of in here grinding away each day and trying to get back at it."
Flacco suffered the injury Nov. 22 against the St. Louis Rams and then missed the final six games of the season. It was the first time in his eight-year career that he had to miss a game.
He had successful surgery performed by renowned sports orthopedic surgery Dr. James Andrews, and the expectation is for him to be fully healthy when the Ravens begin training camp in late July.
"By August, I'll be like eight months out of surgery. I don't know what the timeline is on these things, but I'm in there doing the work," Flacco said. "I'm expecting I'll be ready to go. I really have no idea, though."
Head Coach John Harbaugh discussed Flacco’s recovery last week and stressed that the key to staying on track with the targeted return day is to avoid any setbacks during the rehab. Flacco and the Ravens will balance the desire to get him back as quickly as possible with ensuring a complete recovery in the process.
"I'm kind of just doing what they tell and trying to push myself as much as I can and take it step by step," Flacco said.
The 30-year-old quarterback has been a regular at the Under Armour Performance Center since his surgery last month, and he will continue that throughout his recovery this offseason.
"I've been coming in a couple times a day for a couple hours, and right now, it's a lot of little things that kind of drive you crazy to do," Flacco said. "It's just working out; I'd be doing it anyway and trying to get the knee back to full range of motion, and all that stuff, and then build the muscle back up.
"It's simple stuff. Just go work out and work hard, and you should be good."
