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Don't expect to see Joe Flacco under center when the Ravens take on the Rams in the preseason finale on Thursday.
The Ravens' starting quarterback will not leave the sidelines in St. Louis, which is where Flacco got his first ever start in the third game of the preseason two years ago.
"Yeah, I'm not going to play at all," Flacco said. "It will be interesting to go back there and see it. It is where it all started, but I ain't going to be playing."
Flacco won't be the only Raven not to play on Thursday; in fact, head coach John Harbaugh indicated that a number of starters could get the night off.
"You can know this - we're going to be very judicious with our guys," Harbaugh said. "We're going to make sure that we come out of this thing as healthy as we can. We'll have some guys playing that are going to be important to us, that for sure have already made the team, that are going to have to play in this game. But we're not going to play a lot of guys as much as we would."
It's likely that key starters such as Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason, Ray Rice, Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs will not play against the Rams.
Backup quarterback Marc Bulger could be another guy to get the night off on Thursday. The longtime Rams quarterback has gotten a good amount of action this preseason, and the Ravens might not want to risk an injury to their high-priced, reliable backup, even if Bulger has a chance to face his former team.
If Bulger does indeed not play, Troy Smith would get the full four quarters to try and earn a roster spot, be it with the Ravens or one of the other 31 NFL teams.
