While Baltimore Ravens WR Zay Flowers is no sure bet to suit up against the Pittsburgh Steelers for Saturday’s Wild Card game, his knee injury doesn’t seem to be of long-term concern to head coach John Harbaugh. Providing an update Monday, Harbaugh said Flowers is “day to day.”
“It’s not a season-ending injury,” he told reporters as shared by the Ravens X/Twitter account. So it’s just going to be day to day. Try to do everything he can do to get back as soon as he can. We’ll see where that takes us.”
Flowers suffered the injury during the Ravens’ Week 18 win over the Cleveland Browns when he landed hard on his knee after catching a short screen pass. Initially called questionable, he was later ruled out as Baltimore rolled the Browns to win the AFC North crown.
Just like Cincinnati Bengals RB Chase Brown, a Saturday game makes it that much tougher for Zay Flowers to return to action. Losing him would remove a big chunk of the Ravens’ passing game. On the season, Flowers is the team’s leader in receptions (74), yards (1,059), and fourth with four touchdowns. He made his first Pro Bowl, astoundingly the first Ravens wide receiver to ever be selected for it.
Productive in two games against Pittsburgh, he caught a touchdown in the first meeting before going off for 100 yards in the rematch. In three career matchups, Flowers is averaging four receptions and 70 yards against Pittsburgh.
Like Brown, Flowers will likely do all he can to play in this game. If he can’t suit up, the team will turn to Rashod Bateman as its top wideout. The Ravens will also lean on their top two tight ends in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, who combined for nearly 100 catches, over 1,000 yards, and 17 touchdowns this season.
With the Saturday game, both sides will issue injury reports Tuesday and Wednesday before their final list drops on Thursday.
