Jets' Joe Flacco Says He's Unvaccinated, Won't Discuss Reasons to Avoid Distraction

Count New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco among those NFL players who are facing stricter protocols because they are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Flacco, who will start against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, said he is not vaccinated and doesn't want to cause a distraction for his teammates.

"I definitely have my reasons," Flacco said, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "Honestly, I probably like to talk about this topic more than anybody. It's one of those things that you debate with all the time. But overall I've felt like it's more of a distraction than anything. So I feel like to kind of talk about it too much and give you all my beliefs, is more of a distraction than anything. I think the most important thing is going to play the football game."

Smith noted Flacco followed protocols by wearing a mask while speaking to reporters, which is something Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did not previously do despite being unvaccinated.

ESPN's Rich Cimini reported Flacco will start against the Dolphins with Zach Wilson still recovering from a sprained PCL he suffered during an Oct. 24 loss to the New England Patriots and Mike White coming off a poor performance against the Buffalo Bills.

While White played well during an Oct. 31 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, he suffered a forearm injury against the Indianapolis Colts and then threw zero touchdowns and four interceptions against the Buffalo Bills.

Flacco will now step into the starting role while facing the stricter protocols that come with being unvaccinated.

Unvaccinated players must isolate for 10 days if they test positive, which is something Rodgers had to do while missing Green Bay's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. They also can be deemed high-risk close contacts and miss games even without testing positive, which stands in stark contrast to vaccinated players.

The NFL fined the Packers $300,000 and Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard $14,650 each for violating the health and safety protocols after they attended a team-sanctioned Halloween party. Unvaccinated players are prohibited from going to team gatherings outside of club facilities.