Bengals players discuss Joe Flacco's quick transition 

Joe Flacco only joined the Cincinnati Bengals via a trade from the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday but nevertheless will get the start when 2-3 Cincinnati plays at the Green Bay Packers (2-1-1) on Sunday. 

On Wednesday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor insisted he is "very comfortable" with giving Flacco the nod for the Week 6 clash. Later in the day, multiple Cincinnati players echoed Taylor's words. 

Joe Flacco has quickly impressed Bengals teammates

"Zac would read a play to him, and he was able to recite it perfectly," Bengals running back Chase Brown said about Flacco, per Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' website. "Almost verbatim. I didn't hear any mistakes. It was pretty impressive with that. You could go tell him a play right now, and he could recite it for you. Your own play. I was impressed by that."

Taylor may feel he has nothing to lose in starting Flacco after Jake Browning played poorly in three straight double-digit defeats while serving as the replacement for the injured Joe Burrow (toe). Over those outings, Browning completed 59-of-92 passes for 516 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. 

"I hope so," Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims said about Flacco possibly giving the Cincinnati offense a needed spark. "I know we have full faith in him. He's a pro. He's been a pro for a very long time. He knows the ins and outs of every team. He's probably played them all more than once. Very smart quarterback. I feel we'll be fine with him in there."

How Joe Flacco's new center plans to help the 40-year-old

As of Thursday morning, ESPN BET had the Bengals as 14.5-point underdogs for the upcoming matchup that will take place at Lambeau Field. On Wednesday, Bengals center Ted Karras explained how he plans to help Flacco attempt to guide Cincinnati to an upset victory.

"Until he really gets a good feel for what we're doing, which I think he already has, I'm going to be a little more demonstrative," Karras said about working with Flacco. "But I think it's business as usual. I thought we had a smooth, clean day."

The Bengals may need to be more than "clean" to leave Green Bay with an overall record of 3-3. It remains to be seen if Flacco will be able to turn the clock back as he did when he led the 2023 Browns to the playoffs.