Joe Flacco was as curious as anyone to see how his back would feel after he played in Sunday's season-opener in Cincinnati without having taken the field during training camp or the preseason.
The news is positive.
"I definitely feel like I came out of the game great," Flacco told reporters Wednesday. "I was very happy with how I woke up the next day and Tuesday. Today, I feel the same way."
Although the Ravens quarterback was careful to say his back injury wasn't fully healed, he is encouraged by how it is trending.
"I'm not going to say I'm 100 percent, but there are no limitations," he said.
The Ravens' decision to hold Flacco out of training camp and the preseason was heavily scrutinized, with some analysts suggesting he would have a hard time winning the opener after missing so much prep time.
But the Ravens didn't have a choice if they wanted him to start in Cincinnati, Flacco said Wednesday.
"That was only way we were going to do it," he said. "If it was the regular season or Super Bowl, I would (have been) getting myself ready to play. But it would then turn into something I was dealing with all year and I'd never be 100 percent.
"To get myself back to 100 percent, what was the best plan? You come to realize the best thing is to not play in the preseason. While it's not ideal, at the end of the day, it's still the best of all your options."
Flacco's abrupt re-entry was eased when the Ravens dominated the Bengals with their defense and running game. Flacco didn't have to repeatedly drop back and carry the offense with his arm. He handed off on 42 of the offense's 59 snaps.
Asked Wednesday if he "felt good" that the Ravens' plan for getting Flacco ready for the season-
opener had worked, Head Coach John Harbaugh smiled and shook his head from side to side.
"Then I'd be taking credit for the plan. And it really wasn't my plan," Harbaugh said. "My plan would have been for him to practice all through training camp. But I think our doctors and trainers did a great job and Joe did a great job. That was the target and he made it.
"The best part about it was he helped us win the game. The second best part was he got through it with no harm. He's good. Ready to practice, ready to go."
While it may have helped that he didn't have to throw much in Cincinnati, Flacco said Wednesday that he's fully prepared to do so if that's what the Ravens need.
"Yeah, there's no doubt," he said. "When it comes to Sunday, I have no limitations when it comes to moving around and throwing the football, that kind of stuff.
"If we're going to win a bunch of football games, we're going to need to do it a handful of different ways through the course of the season. But if we can win the way we did Sunday, there's no need to do anything else. It doesn't really matter to me. I just want to win."
