OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Sunday’s divisional-round showdown between the Ravens and Buffalo will feature the NFL’s two best quarterbacks of the regular season and arguably the two best offenses overall.
Whether it will include Baltimore’s Pro Bowl wide receiver remains to be seen.
On Monday, head coach John Harbaugh was noncommittal about the status of Zay Flowers, who sat out the wild-card round win over Pittsburgh with a knee injury sustained against Cleveland in Week 18. Flowers wasn’t able to practice last week and was officially ruled out two days before the Ravens ran for 299 yards in the 28-14 win over the Steelers.
“That’s in ‘we’ll see’ mode. He’s working hard to get back, and we’ll see toward the end of the week if he’s practicing,” Harbaugh said. “He could play without practicing for sure if he feels healthy enough and if it’s safe for him.”
Despite Harbaugh’s claim, logic would suggest the second-year receiver needing to be able to log at least some practice time this week to gauge the health of the right knee he injured early in the second quarter of the Jan. 4 win over the Browns. Flowers became the first wide receiver in franchise history to be named to the Pro Bowl after catching 74 passes for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns in his second season.
Superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson went 16-for-21 for 175 yards, two touchdowns, and a 132.0 passer rating in the opening round of the playoffs, but wide receivers combined to make just seven catches for 82 yards as running back Derrick Henry and Baltimore’s ground game led the way. Former first-round pick and No. 2 wide receiver Rashod Bateman caught a 15-yard touchdown on the Ravens’ opening drive.
Tylan Wallace (39), Bateman (36), and Nelson Agholor (20) played the most snaps among wide receivers as the Ravens leaned heavily into using their tight ends, but punt returner Steven Sims (13), practice-squad elevation Anthony Miller (nine), and fourth-round rookie Devontez Walker (two) also logged offensive snaps on Saturday night.
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Tight end Isaiah Likely led Baltimore with 53 receiving yards on three catches.
The Ravens figure to again make the Bills defense stop them on the ground after running for 271 yards in the 35-10 blowout win at M&T Bank Stadium back in Week 4, a game in which Flowers caught just one pass for 10 yards on two targets. The 2023 first-round pick’s status still figures to be more consequential this week with Buffalo being a more balanced and serious Super Bowl contender than the pretender Steelers, who faded badly over the season’s final month and lost their last five games.
While Flowers’ status remains up in the air, the Ravens don’t appear to have any meaningful concern about Jackson taking a knee to his back in the first half of Saturday’s win. Despite appearing to be in discomfort at a few points and using a heating pad on the sideline, Jackson called it “a little nag” and “nothing to worry about” after the game. The two-time league MVP played all 74 offensive snaps in the first-round victory.
Asked Monday if Jackson could be limited in practices this week, Harbaugh said, “It doesn’t look that way from what I’ve been told.”
