When the Ravens hired Marc Trestman as the offensive coordinator on Jan. 20, he and franchise quarterback Joe Flacco only knew each other from a distance. Trestman had studied Flacco as an opponent, and Flacco knew of Trestman's reputation for working with quarterbacks.
Flacco told Head Coach John Harbaugh at the time that he was "on board" with hiring Trestman, and they've started to build their relationship over the last few weeks.
"We've had a few ongoing texts and we'll have a chance to spend a little bit of time together," Trestman said during a recent interview.
Trestman is well into the process of taking over the offense from Gary Kubiak, and part of that transition is digging into film on Flacco. Trestman has spent plenty of time studying his new quarterback over the last few weeks, and he's impressed with how the eight-year veteran handles the game.
"I think what you see is a guy that can play very quietly – what I call a quiet mind. He really has a great understanding of the game," Trestman said. "He's done great job with his footwork, which is so important to a quarterback playing at a high level in terms of throwing the football."
Flacco's ability to handle change also stands out to Trestman. The Ravens have gone through four offensive coordinators over the last four years, but Flacco has made strides during that time.
"He's done an incredible job of moving through different coordinators and different style of systems and being able to in some exceptional way embrace the coordinator and the style of play and being able to make it his own," Trestman said.
Last season was the Ravens' first year in the West Coast offense, and the team plans to stick with that system under Trestman. Flacco enjoyed the best statistical season of his career in that system, throwing for 27 touchdowns and 3,986 yards.
He came up just 14 yards shy of crossing the 4,000-yard plateau for the first time of his career, but Trestman is more interested adding numbers to a category other than passing yards.
"I think the most important thing are the W's that are attached to his name and this football team's name," Trestman said about Flacco, who has won 82 career games. "How we get there and how it gets done is really not as important as getting it done. We're going to attach the performance level to wins and to championships and things that are expected here in the Ravens organization.
"Those other things just seem to care of themselves when you're getting W's and taking care of the football."
