Rich Scangarello responds to Joe Flacco calling out the offensive approach

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Joe Flacco lost his cool following Sunday’s game after only dropping 13 points in yet another loss.

In what may have been his parting shots—depending on how long his injury sidelines him—Flacco kept the hits coming, questioning the team’s play-calling, conservative approach and philosophy.

“We are now a 2-6 football team, and we’re like afraid to go for it in a two-minute drill,” he said baffled. “I just feel like sometimes those situations are tough, and we can make it easier on ourselves by not being afraid to be aggressive.”

The countless shots could be placed on many across the organization, including the head man Vic Fangio. But there’s no doubt one person Flacco’s public callout was intended for was offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.

After having nearly 100 hours to let the veteran quarterback’s comments marinate in the Mile High City, Scangarello responded on Thursday.

“You’d have to ask what Joe meant behind that comment, but when I saw Joe’s comment, I just saw a quarterback that had lost a game and was very frustrated with how it went,” the 47-year old said, initially dodging the criticism. “We’ve lost a couple of heartbreakers and, you know, he’s just a competitor. And that stuff bothers him, whatever that might be. And I think, in that moment, something he said came out, but it’s nothing more than that. He’s in the building, he’s great, everything’s good.”

Fortunately, Joe was very specific about his critique of the game plan, specifically questioning the decision to run the ball on 3rd-and-5 late in the fourth quarter and force Indianapolis to burn a timeout instead of being aggressive and trying for the first down.

“I mean you always have regrets with play calls, you always can do things differently—whether it’s technique, better call, whatever it is,” Scangarello said on Thursday, when asked if he regrets the way he called the final drive. “You got to live with those consequences, you don’t get any get-backs.”

Despite the starting quarterback calling out the conservative approach and game plan multiple times, Scangarello pushed back and had a different explanation for why the offense didn’t appear to be explosive.

“I thought we were aggressive in the game, took some shots. Just didn’t go our way,” the first-time coordinator stated. “I think that the offense needs to do what it needs to do every week to win. And I think in general—it’s hard to say in general—every situation is different, every opponent is different, injuries, the people you have up, all of that. As far as the aggression and all that, what was said and all that, you’d have to ask—that’s not for us to comment.”

On Sunday, the Broncos will roll out a new quarterback in Brandon Allen. Will a new-ultra aggressive gameplan follow in his footsteps? According to Scangarello himself, he’s been rolling out aggressive game plans.

As for Scangarello and Flacco’s relationship, the two talk every day, including after Sunday’s game and that night after Flacco’s comments.

“Obviously, anything that’s said involved around the offense, like if it’s amongst your team—all we’re trying to do is be the best we can be,” Scangarello said, when asked if he takes the comments personally. “I mean, we’re going to go out there and try and win every game any way we can, and we want to be the most efficient offense we can possibly be. So anything that’s said by anyone, obviously you take it in for what it is. In the end, we’re all going to do a better job, and we’re going to get it right.”

Regardless of if the Broncos’ offense “gets it right” on Sunday against the Browns or if Scangarello calls a more aggressive game, he won’t have to worry about his quarterback speaking out after the game. Well, he won’t have to worry about Joe speaking out, that is.