Nothing new in Harbaugh's defense of Flacco

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco completed 24-of-44 passes for 248 yards and two interceptions during last week's loss to the New York Jets.

It was not a great performance, something Ravens fans have grown accustomed to at times during Flacco's career, and his head coach came to the defense of his quarterback Wednesday once again.

John Harbaugh may be tired of constantly having to show support for his flawed pivot, like someone who feels obligated to stand by their obnoxious spouse, which could explain why his lengthy comments sound like they were generated by a QB-defending text bot.

"I'm a Joe Flacco fan. I believe in Joe, and Joe is certainly on offense the key to the whole thing. Joe Flacco is a great football player," Harbaugh said, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.

"Joe Flacco is the key to our success. So, we need to all do everything in our power that all the things are falling in place for him. He can play. He can throw it. He can make decisions. He can score touchdowns for us. He can do all the things we need to do. We need to make sure that we give him a chance to do that. Joe will take care of what he needs to do. I'm not worried about Joe taking care of what he needs to do. Joe works on it harder than anybody. He cares about it more than anybody. We need to protect him. We need to run routes. We need to create confidence in our passing game. We need to run the ball well. We need to do the things we need to do to make the offense work. And Joe will make the offense work."

This seems to highlight a predicament a few NFL coaches find themselves in: There's no point in publicly shaming a team's most important player, so it's easier to have a rote explanation for remaining confident in him.