Ray Lewis criticizes Flacco's passion for football

It’s no secret that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is having one of the worst seasons of his career.
Former teammate and future Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis apparently has taken notice, labeling his play as inconsistent and questioning Flacco’s passion for the game in a conversation with Jason Whitlock on FOX Sports 1 on Thursday. Of course, this isn’t the first time that Lewis has criticized Flacco for not being more of a vocal leader.
Lewis was asked why the Super Bowl XLVII Most Valuable Player has been so inconsistent this season.
“I can’t tell you that,” Lewis said. “I’ll tell you what I do know. There is something called talent, and you see it a dime a dozen. Then, there’s something called being passionate about what you do — about really what you do. And me being around it … Gifted? Absolutely. Passionate about what he do? I’ve never seen that. I don’t know what that looks like.
“When you watch, sometimes he’s always isolating himself to go sit on the bench, never talking to anybody after a big play, bad play, whatever it is. Teammates figure out how to create this core that we all get along. Then, there’s a fact, right? Some people will be co-workers, some people will be teammates, and then some people you may call friends. I call Joe Flacco a teammate. We won a Super Bowl together.”
Having played with Flacco for five seasons, Lewis certainly has more perspective than an outside observer and there could be some level of truth in what he says. However, it’s a very poor look for Lewis to only mention in passing the fact that they won a Super Bowl together. Flacco’s historic play in the 2012 postseason was the biggest reason why Lewis was able to ride off into the sunset holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second time in his 17-year career.
I’m guessing Lewis wasn’t worried about Flacco’s passion when he threw 11 touchdowns and no interceptions over those four postseason wins culminating with a title in New Orleans. Perhaps the former Raven is still a little sore about the quarterback poking fun at his sometimes-incoherent speeches a few years back.
Whitlock suggested that Flacco might have a little “Jay Cutler” in him, a comparison that Lewis didn’t go out of his way to refute.
“When you think about mentality, when you watch him, I don’t know how many times you will hear somebody go out on a limb to defend [and say], ‘He’s the greatest teammate I’ve ever had,'” Lewis said. “I don’t know how many times you would hear that. Maybe it’s because his personality just isn’t that personality. He’s not a ‘rah-rah’ guy. He won’t say much.
“But I still [think], in the game of football, there has to be some burning fire behind you. There has to be something that’s bigger than me. Like, ‘This is us. This is the core.’ And whether you understood everything that I used to do or why I used to do it, sometimes I didn’t rah-rah for me. Sometimes I rah-rahed because my boys needed the rah-rah. Sometimes I stepped in the huddle and said things and stood in the gap for them.”
Regardless of other circumstances such as an injury-riddled offensive line and an inconsistent running game, Flacco’s play is certainly deserving of criticism this season. But Lewis attacking his passion for the game and not offering anything else of substance about what has — or hasn’t — been happening on the field this season is a low blow.
Even if it hasn’t happened in 2016, Flacco has shown countless times that he can play at a high level without the kind of personality Lewis believes he needs. Having a different temperament doesn’t necessarily mean a guy lacks passion.
Maybe Lewis will remember that the next time he glances at his second Super Bowl ring.