Joe Flacco is 38 years old, but he says feels like a 10-year-old kid.

The Cleveland Browns are thankful for that youthful feeling.

Flacco is back playing in the NFL on a Browns team trying to claw its way into the playoffs – and he’s been named the starter for the rest of the season with four games to go.

On Sunday, as he outdueled Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Flacco threw 26-of-45 for 311 yards and three touchdowns as the Browns held off the Jaguars 31-27 to stop a two-game losing streak.

His performance wasn’t flawless – Flacco threw an interception and lost a fumble in his second game as Cleveland’s starter – but there’s a statistic that gives Browns fans comfort:

The 38-year-old is the franchise’s first quarterback to throw three touchdown passes at least 30 yards in the same game since Brian Sipe on December 21, 1980.

“It was not pretty today, and I was not my best, but these are what make teams, these tough games,” Flacco said in the locker room to his team.

It’s potentially one of the most unlikely storylines of an NFL season that has seen a growing list of starting quarterbacks sidelined by injury.

“You guys earned the right all year to play December football and that’s what we’re doing right now,” Flacco said. “And that’s what it looks like sometimes. In January and February, this is what it’s going to be. To have the mental toughness to come through in those types of games, that’s what winners are made of.”

Flacco should know. Thanks to the Browns, he’s made it to his 16th NFL season despite starting the season on his couch – and with how his previous year ended.

It looked like the veteran quarterback’s playing days were over after a disappointing 2022 season with the New York Jets. The majority of Flacco’s career appearances came as the starter of the Browns’ divisional rival, the Baltimore Ravens, where he spent his first 11 seasons, notably winning Super Bowl XLVII.

“I appreciate you guys having me,” Flacco said Sunday to his teammates. “I feel like a 10-year-old kid out there.”

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski affirmed after Sunday’s win that Flacco would start the rest of the season.

“I think a player that’s been around and has had the career that he’s had, he can really lean on his experiences,” Stefanski said.

“Lean on his games that he’s played, the different systems he’s been in. And he just told that to the football team, just some of the things that he’s been through and now we as a team have been through. It is good for you in the end.”

‘It’s unbelievable to be out there’

In 2023, the list of injured NFL quarterbacks doesn’t quite mirror the complete, infamous list of every Browns starting quarterback since 1999 – that would be 37 since Flacco has taken over – but it might feel that way.