The Eagles defense has ‘some dudes up front,’ says Joe Flacco: ‘They’ve got a lot of things going’
The veteran Browns QB has experience playing against Vic Fangio defenses, and he likes what he’s seen from the Eagles at joint practices.
Joe Flacco has faced a fair number of Vic Fangio defenses during his 17 NFL seasons.
Flacco, a South Jersey native, has been around for so long that Fangio was on staff with the Ravens when he entered the league in 2008. Flacco then won Super Bowl XLVII by beating a Fangio-led 49ers defense in 2013.
But the Eagles defense in 2024 was different. It dominated during the playoffs, finishing with a lights-out performance against Kansas City in Super Bowl LIX. Last season’s top-ranked unit lost a few key members in the offseason, including Darius Slay, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, but it still looks to be one of the NFL’s best defenses in 2025.
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On Wednesday, the new first-team defense got to face a different team for the first time during joint practices with the Browns. Flacco led the Browns’ top offensive unit during seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills and had trouble connecting with his receivers.
The Browns also struggled to develop the running game against the Eagles’ front, led by Jalen Carter.
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“It’s such a small sample size there, but they look like they have some dudes up front, and they have some experience in the back end, whether that’s experience of years in the league or just guys that have a good feel for the game,” Flacco said. “They’re very well-coached, I know that. They’ve got a lot of things going.”
After practice, Flacco said the Eagles provided a “good test” for the Browns before they compete in the AFC North.
“When you get practices like this, I don’t know if you can truly say, ‘Oh man, we won today,’ or, ‘We lost today,’ but you can find out about how tough guys are,” Flacco said. “The guys that stick it out and really stick their nose in there and step up to the occasion of playing against a good team, and they’re not afraid to do it.
“You don’t think that would happen at this level, where you get guys that maybe get a little bit timid in certain situations, but, hey, people are just human. I think you get to find out a lot about the mental makeup of your team in these environments.”
The Eagles and Browns have one more joint practice on Thursday before they face off in a preseason game at 1 p.m. Saturday.