Zay Flowers’ injury status revealed, but Ravens remain confident in other weapons

The Pro Bowl wideout avoided disaster but still might not be available for the first round of the playoffs.

When the Baltimore Ravens take their home field at M&T Bank Stadium to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night on Super Wild Card Weekend, they might be doing so without one of their top offensive weapons.

Fresh off becoming the first-ever Ravens wide receiver voted to the Pro Bowl not as a special teamer, second-year pro Zay Flowers suffered a knee injury in the team’s Week 18 win over the Cleveland Browns to clinch a second straight AFC North crown. The untimely and unfortunate development has cast a shroud of uncertainty over his availability for their first playoff game.

“It’s just going to be day-to-day,” head coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “He’s going to try to do everything he can to get back as soon as he can. We’ll see where that takes us.”

Flowers sustained the injury that NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported is believed to be a knee sprain after his knee collided with the knee of Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate who was diving at him as he was going to the ground after a 12-yard catch and run. He stayed down clutching the area that was hit, writhing in pain, but was able to get to his feet and walk off the field albeit with a pronounced limp.

After quickly establishing himself as the Ravens’ top pass-catching threat as a rookie in which he broke several franchise records, Flowers took his game to the next level in 2024. The 2023 first-rounder recorded career highs across the board with team-leading totals in targets (116) and receiving yards (1,059)—becoming the first wideout since Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown to reach the 1,000-yard threshold. He also led the team in receptions as well with 74 and hauled in four touchdowns.

In the two regular-season matchups against the Steelers, Flowers recorded a combined seven catches on 14 targets for 129 receiving yards and a touchdown. The bulk of that production came in the Ravens’ lopsided Week 16 victory at home in which he recorded his fifth game of 100-plus receiving yards this season and eclipsed 1,000 yards for the first time.

As integral as the elusive and electric young receiver is and has been to the Ravens’ offensive success, he is far from their only dangerous weapon on that side of the ball or even in his own position group. When he went down in the second quarter, the offense still didn’t have a hard time moving the ball through the air thanks in large part to their next two leading pass catchers, three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews and former first-round wideout Rashod Bateman.

“Mark [is] playing at a really high level, for sure,” Harbaugh said. “He’s been playing well all year. [He has] made some plays, [and he’s] running fast. He has to be one of the fastest tight ends in the league, he just has to be.”

Andrews capped off his impressive bounce-back 2024 season after his 2023 campaign was cut short due to injury by hauling in four of his eight targets against the Browns for 54 yards. He made an incredible sliding snag for a long of 30 yards and broke a franchise record for most consecutive games with a receiving touchdown with six reeling in his 11th—most among all tight ends in the NFL.

“His ability to get open and make contested catches really showed up in this last game – he made some phenomenal catches,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, the one down the right sideline; I don’t even know how he saw the ball, let alone find it, [and] get to it and catch it. And then Lamar [Jackson]’s trust in Mark, of course. All those things; he’s been really great.”

As impressive as Andrews was against the Browns, the pass catcher who stepped up the most in Flowers’ absence was Bateman and he will expected and counted on to do so again whether his teammate can suit up or not.

“It’s the same as I’ve always felt about it,” Harbaugh said. “Rashod Bateman has always been high on my list and on my charts. I think he’s a tremendous player, tremendous athlete, tremendous competitor and excellent wide receiver. He brings a tremendous skillset to it. He’s been playing at a high level all year.”

Bateman finished as the Ravens leader in targets (eight), receptions (five) and receiving yards (76) against the Browns in addition to hauling in his ninth touchdown of the season and averaging 15.2 yards per catch with a long of 24. He finished the season with 45 receptions on 72 targets for 756 receiving yards and the fifth-most yards per catch in the league with an average of 16.8.

“He made big plays for us in that game (against Cleveland) this past week. He was a factor in those drives in getting us into scoring position numerous times. Yes, he’s good, but it’s not just Rashod. I don’t think it’s about one guy – it’s everybody. We have a lot of weapons. We can move guys around in different ways, scheme those guys up, and they can all make plays.”

In addition to Andrews and Bateman, some of the other dangerous weapons at the Ravens’ disposal in the passing game include third-year tight end Isaiah Likely and veteran running back Justice Hill who Harbaugh shared is expected to be available this weekend after missing the past two games with a concussion and then an illness.

Likely quietly set career highs across the board as well including six receiving touchdowns—second-most on the team and fourth-most among all tight ends in the league. Hill is one of the best third-down running backs in the NFL who is an excellent pass protector and dynamic playmaker as a pass catcher out of the backfield on screens and check-downs.

The Ravens also finished the season with the top rushing attack that led the league in yards (3,189), yards per attempt (5.8) and yards per game (187.6) as well as games of 200-plus rushing yards with seven—three of which came in their final three games heading into the playoffs. They’ve been spearheaded all season by five-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry who broke several franchise and NFL records during his first year in Baltimore and Jackson has become even more involved in the running game down the stretch and is much more willing to use his legs when the opportunities present themselves.

Even if Flowers can’t play this Saturday, the Ravens remain well-equipped to stay balanced and explosive in both elements of offense. They can also opt to just bludgeon the Steelers’ leaky run defense for the second time in four weeks after they steamrolled them for 220 yards on the ground the last time they played.