Joe Flacco Reportedly Plans to Start for Bengals vs. Bears Despite Shoulder Injury

Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco plans to start for the Cincinnati Bengals against the Chicago Bears this week despite dealing with a shoulder injury, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

According to Rapoport, there was optimism following Thursday's practice, which gave Flacco enough confidence to try to play.

"I've never really dealt with it before, but I guess there's a point where it's not really up to you," Flacco said. "It's just kind of how it's reacting and how you feel. That's why I wanted to make sure I was able to test it out a little bit."

Flacco briefly entered the Bengals' locker room during Sunday's loss to the New York Jets after taking a hard hit, but he was able to return to the game. It was later revealed that Flacco suffered an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder, leaving his status for this week's matchup in question.

Flacco said going through treatment this week gave him enough confidence to play against the Bears.

"I think the idea was just treatment and get as much of that as possible, get it feeling as good as possible and then go from there," Flacco said.

Flacco opened the season with the Cleveland Browns and started four games before being traded to the Bengals in October. He's been solid in his first three games with Cincinnati, throwing for 784 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions so far, though the Bengals have gone 1-2 during that stretch.

Cincinnati, which is without star quarterback Joe Burrow as he manages a turf toe injury, is 3-5 on the year and is hoping to stay alive in the playoff race. Flacco will try to lead the team on a late-season surge, but he will have to do so cautiously this week as he nurses the shoulder injury.

"I feel pretty good. You don't want to just assume you're gonna be able to throw or not really know," Flacco said. "I definitely wanted to be able to go out there at some point this week and feel good about what was going on."