Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers will not be able to put his Pro Bowl skills on display Saturday night. Flowers has been ruled out ahead of Baltimore’s Wild Card Round matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Head coach John Harbaugh confirmed the news to reporters Thursday afternoon.
“He’ll get started again next week,” Harbaugh said of Flowers. “And we’ll move forward with the guys we have. We’re excited about the guys we have, which is everybody else.”
Flowers, who became the first receiver drafted by the Ravens to make the Pro Bowl this year, suffered a knee sprain during last Saturday’s regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns. Flowers went down during the second quarter of Baltimore’s 35-10 win to secure a second consecutive AFC North championship. He started the week missing practice and he stayed out Wednesday and Thursday.
Flowers led the Ravens in receiving for the second consecutive season and crossed 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his two-year career. He also played in every single game, so there’s no real example of what this offense looks like without him leading the receiving corps.
In Baltimore’s two playoff games last year, Flowers posted nine receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown. Receivers Rashod Bateman, Nelson Aghloar, and Tylan Wallace will look to make up for his absence at the position.
Like Harbaugh mentioned, everyone else on the Ravens’ roster will be good to go for Saturday evening. Baltimore is currently favored by 9.5 points to beat Pittsburgh at home.