Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco helped the franchise book its second trip to the playoffs in the last 21 years on Thursday with a 37–20 win over the New York Jets.
Early in the second half, Flacco was spotted appearing to nearly doze off on the sideline, prompting a plethora of reactions from NFL fans.
During Amazon Prime Video postgame interview after the victory, Flacco was asked about the incident, and he seemed to have already been aware that the footage had been circulating online.
When broached on his sideline snooze, Flacco comically fought back on the notion that he’d fallen asleep, but couldn’t help but laugh after seeing the video in which his eyes were closed while he sat on the bench.
The 38-year-old then dropped a funny one-liner to explain his sleepy expression.
“I guess our offense was boring me a little bit. We weren’t doing a good enough job,” he joked.
Did Joe Flacco fall asleep during the game?
— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) December 29, 2023
The man himself answers... pic.twitter.com/t5ljkUb6qk
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo also caught up with Flacco and asked the quarterback if he was nodding off.
“I don’t know about that,” Flacco said with a smile. “I can’t believe that. I’m sure my eyes—who knows. Was it in the second half? We weren’t doing much. Credit to our defense for continuing to battle.”
The Browns scored 34 of their 37 points in the first half behind Flacco’s 296 passing yards and three touchdowns. It certainly wasn’t a lackluster first half from the former Super Bowl champ, who appeared to take a quick moment to rest his eyes while Cleveland’s defense was holding onto the lead.
