Lamar Jackson will be without his favorite target for the start of the playoffs.
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers will not be available for Saturday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He injured his right knee in the final game of the regular season and did not practice all week.
Flowers was seen walking through the locker room wearing a brace on his injured knee.
The receiver will miss only a second game since the start of his career.
The loss of Flowers, who led Baltimore with 74 receptions for 1,059 yards, is a game-changer for the NFL’s best regular-season offense. Flowers’ speed consistently allowed Lamar Jackson to have a threat in deep areas, which opened up a lot of options for Todd Monken’s offense.
The only other Ravens wide receiver to catch more than 15 passes this season is Rashod Bateman, who had 45 receptions for 756 yards and nine touchdowns.
-A first-round pick in 2023, Flowers is one of Baltimore’s most dangerous players when he has the ball in his hands.
His 463 receiving yards this season are the most by a Ravens player in 12 years, when Ray Rice had 472 yards in 2012.
Head coach John Harbaugh believes it will take a collective effort to absorb the loss of Flowers. Nelson Agholor could receive more playing time at receiver, and tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely could be more involved in the game plan.
“We have a lot of weapons,” Harbaugh said. “Lamar will distribute these weapons as he sees fit from game to game. »
Flowers was injured about three minutes into the second quarter of last Saturday’s 35-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns. His right leg hit Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees just as Mohamoud Diabate hit Flowers’ right knee. He did not return to the game afterward.
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