Baltimore Ravens rule out wide receiver Zay Flowers against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs.
On Thursday, Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh announced Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers will not be playing in their Saturday game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round.
Harbaugh announces WR Zay Flowers will NOT play against the Steelers
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The absence of Flowers is significant. He ended the regular season with 1,059 yards, 300 more than Rashod Bateman (756). Flowers also finished with 74 receptions, two more than Bateman had targets. And with Flowers out, the opportunities will be to involve the rest of their playmakers.
“ It’s going to be an opportunity. We’ll move guys around. Guys will play spots based on the gameplan, and the ball will kind of go where it will go based on the way it unfolds, in terms of how they play us and kind of take what the defense gives you kind of opportunity,” Harbaugh said. “So, we have a lot of weapons, and Lamar [Jackson] will distribute that thing the way he sees fit, play to play.”
Flowers’ influence on the offense wasn’t alone in his production, but during pre-snap motion. Replacing him, while not impossible, will be a challenge for the Ravens. But Harbaugh, Bateman and Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken shared their confidence in others stepping up.
“Well, [Flowers] has been a big part of what we do. He’s a tremendous player, but we’ve got a lot of really good players, so it will be divided up, if he’s not able to go,” Monken said on Wednesday.
When asked about Flowers and how he’s handling his absence, Harbaugh shared Flowers is “locked in on his rehab.”