Rob Carr/Getty Images(BALTIMORE) — It seems like birds of a feather don’t always flock together.
Former Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis criticized his old teammate Joe Flacco while appearing on FS1’s Speak For Yourself, saying that the Super Bowl winning quarterback’s emotionless approach to the sport is the reason for his inconsistency.
The critique comes as Flacco’s performance led him to rank at 29th in the National Football League in passer rating.
Although Flacco was surprised by the comments, he seemed to handle it in stride.
“It’s a little surprising coming from Ray,” Flacco said after Friday’s practice. “But it’s been something I’ve dealt with probably back before high school. It’s just part of my personality. When things are going good, it’s questioned as if it’s a good thing. When things aren’t going as well as you might like them to be, it’s always a question as to whether my personality is that of one that fits what an NFL quarterback should be. It’s not anything I’m not used to. But it is a little bit different coming from Ray.”
During Flacco’s response, his teammates, safety Eric Weddle and cornerback Jimmy Smith, could be heard yelling “we got your back” during the interview.
Weddle also went on to say that it was odd for Lewis to critique Flacco, considering the quarterback was instrumental in their 2012 Super Bowl win.
“It’s just odd that you hear Ray Lewis saying something,” Weddle said. “Joe Flacco won you a Super Bowl; did you forget about that?”
“We love Joe. He’s our guy,” Weddle added. “He’s a great teammate, professional, leads, everything you want. It’s kind of irrelevant. We don’t really care what the outside thinks. For an old teammate to say that, it’s just like, ‘Don’t you have something better to talk about?’ I guess he didn’t.”
While the comments definitely meant something to “Joe Cool,”Flacco said that he does not plan on reaching out to Lewis.
“Probably not,” Flacco said. “Me and Ray are going to cross paths again. It might be brought up. It might not. Who knows?”
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