Through one tumultuous training camp and the first seven games of his Ravens career, Joe Flacco impressed with his demeanor, his aptitude and his ability.
Last week, he made a bigger statement: He bent a rookie's learning curve into a veteran's declaration.
Six weeks after Flacco first faced the Cleveland Browns' defense, he devoured it.
Forty-two days after he beat the Browns with a second-half splurge, he did it again. No fluke there.
"There were a couple plays in the first Cleveland game where he had a chance to throw it over their head," offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said. "Those same opportunities came up in the second game, and he took advantage of it."
Flacco threw no touchdown passes in a Sept. 21 win over the slow-starting Browns at home. Last Sunday in Cleveland, he threw two against a supposedly rejuvenated defense.
He had no pass plays of 20 or more yards in the September game. Last week, he had three.
Do the math and you come up with a quick study at a position where the Ravens have often used training wheels. What the Ravens get today in Houston in Flacco's ninth career start is a precocious player just starting to uncover his potential.
Halfway through Flacco's rookie season, there seems little doubt the Ravens made a wise and insightful decision when they took the former NCAA Division I-AA standout with the 18th pick of the first round of April's draft.
But Hue Jackson, the Ravens' quarterbacks coach, could have told you that months ago.
Jackson, who once coached Carson Palmer at Southern California, liked the response he got when he peppered Flacco with problematic questions at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis in February.
And Jackson loved it when he went to Delaware for a workout with receivers Flacco had never seen and NFL balls he had never used. Flacco was unfazed; he passed the test with flying colors.
"It was sometime during the workout, or immediately after, that I told Cam, 'I think this is our guy,' " Jackson said last week.
"I spend a lot of time dealing with Joe. I know what Joe is, and I know what Joe isn't. What he is, is a tremendous young man first and foremost who has a burning desire to be the best at what he does. And what he's not, he's not a prima donna. He's not a guy that's going to get too big, because he has such great character and values, because his parents did a great job instilling that in him."
