The Athletic has live coverage of Ravens vs Bills in the AFC Divisional Round
BUFFALO — As expected, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers will not play tonight in the AFC divisional round matchup against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Flowers was doubtful for the game with a sprained right knee that he sustained on Jan. 4 against the Cleveland Browns.
Flowers did work out on the field about 2 1/2 hours before the game, doing mostly straight line running and some stops and starts. However, the Ravens decided to hold him out.
Zay Flowers running: pic.twitter.com/rUcc7o9lCD
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) January 19, 2025
Baltimore is hopeful that Flowers will be available if they win and advance to next week’s AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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After missing his sixth consecutive practice in the last two weeks, Flowers was listed as doubtful heading into the weekend. He was the only Ravens player absent from practice this week, though he was moving fairly well during an individual workout on Friday. Ravens coach John Harbaugh had suggested that Flowers, a Pro Bowl selection and 1,000-yard receiver this season, had a chance to suit up Sunday. However, it always seemed dubious that the Ravens would be comfortable playing a guy who hasn’t been on the field in two weeks and doesn’t have his normal mobility in a game with these stakes with what is expected to be frigid conditions.
The Ravens beat the Bills, 35-10, in Week 4 with Flowers catching just one ball (on two targets) for 10 yards. They overwhelmed the Bills, who were missing several key defensive starters, with their run game, rushing for 271 yards on 34 carries. That figures to be the recipe again for the Ravens, particularly with Flowers out. The Ravens will probably use their heavy packages often, with multiple tight ends and fullback Patrick Ricard.
While Rashod Bateman steps into the No. 1 receiver role in Flowers’ absence, Lamar Jackson is still likely to spread the ball around. Jackson only had 16 completions against the Steelers last week. However, seven different players had a reception and six different guys were targeted twice or more. No Flowers likely means more opportunities for Justice Hill out of the backfield and significant roles for tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely in the passing game.
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(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
