Joe Flacco's preseason slumber is over.
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback told NFL Media's Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio that he plans to play Saturday against the Detroit Lions.
Flacco hasn't seen game action since tearing his ACL last November. The Ravens have allowed him to practice fully, though, leading the veteran to say of his knee last week, per ESPN: "I don't think about it when I'm out there."
In Flacco's absence, Ryan Mallett, Josh Johnson and Jerrod Johnson have taken all of Baltimore's preseason snaps leading up to Saturday's regular-season dress rehearsal. Mallett, especially, has been a mixed bag, leading coach John Harbaugh to hint that journeyman Josh Johnson could steal away the No. 2 job.
While Flacco might need time to find his groove, the return of the reliable Super Bowl-winning signal-caller is huge for a Ravens team that crumbled last year under endless bites from the injury bug.