The Ravens left Indianapolis with a Week 1 win, but also a couple of injured wide receivers.
Head Coach Jesse Minter gave updates Monday on wide receivers Zay Flowers (hamstring) and Ja'Kobi Lane (wrist), who were both sidelined for the second half of Sunday's game.
Minter said Flowers is more in the "day-to-day range." The Ravens face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in the home opener.
"I feel pretty good about where that's at," Minter said. "We'll see how the week goes though there."
Flowers suffered a hamstring injury during joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings, and the Ravens shut him down for two weeks of training camp. Minter acknowledged that the team must be mindful that it doesn't become a lingering issue.
Flowers exploded with 150 receiving yards and a touchdown in the first half in Indianapolis, as the passing game largely went through their star receiver.
"There's a lot of thoughts that go into that any time you're dealing with things that are not enough to be a major detriment for multiple things, but you want to make sure that's not something you're dealing with for 17, 18 weeks," Minter said.
On the flip side, Minter said Lane's wrist injury "may be a little bit longer" and said the Ravens are evaluating it further and getting more opinions.
Lane suffered a fractured wrist, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
Minter didn't specify when the injury happened. Lane had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty, then caught an 11-yard pass that put the Ravens just outside the goal line.
"It wasn't one of those plays where you feel it right away. It was more of an after-the-fact thing," Minter said of Lane's injury.
If the Ravens don't have Flowers and/or Lane, they could turn to Devontez Walker, who missed the opener due to a groin injury, and/or rookie Elijah Sarratt, who was a healthy scratch.
"I have confidence in the guys we have," Minter said. "We have a couple guys that weren't active yesterday that we have a lot of confidence in to bounce back and give us what we need there. Excited for those guys to get the opportunity."
Rashod Bateman didn't have any catches in the opener (one reception was called back by a penalty), but Minter said there are big days ahead for Bateman, especially if thrust into a bigger role.
Elsewhere, Minter said that the Ravens are still evaluating cornerback T.J. Tampa, who exited early in Sunday's game with a knee injury.
Offensive Line Run Blocking Draws Praise
Having three new pieces on the offensive line, including two players making their first career start, didn't prevent the Ravens from winning up front.
Baltimore ran for 202 yards and four touchdowns as Derrick Henry (144 yards, three touchdowns) found running lanes and ball carriers were rarely hit in the backfield. Henry gained 110 yards before contact, according to Next Gen Stats.
Minter loved the attitude and physicality of the offensive line, with Jovaughn Gwyn making his first career start at center and first-round right guard Vega Ioane making his NFL debut. Veteran left guard John Simpson is the other new starter, flanked by tackles Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten.
"I thought in the run game we were really good," Minter said. "We were rolling off the ball. Jovaughn, his first start on the road, in an environment like that with their crowd, to really handle all that pretty well, kudos to him.
"Vega, this guy can be an enforcer for us on the offensive line, especially in the run game and pass pro. Good place for those guys to start, a lot to build on."
On the play where Lamar Jackson made a great escape by ducking under a defender to scramble for 19 yards and a first down, Ioane manhandled Colts defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore.
One point of emphasis for the offensive line this week will be to avoid penalties. Ioane was called twice for holding, Gwyn was whistled for holding that took a touchdown off the board, and Stanley was flagged for a chop block.
"A couple of those penalties may happen in the first game," Minter said. "But with that unit to have so many new pieces, especially the interior, to run the ball for 200 yards, I just like the mentality of that group."
Minter Thinks Defense Could Have Surrendered Fewer Points
After giving up a touchdown on the Colts' opening drive, the Ravens buckled down defensively and held Indianapolis to just 251 total yards for the game.
While he was happy with the defense overall, Minter felt the Ravens should have kept the Colts to fewer than 23 points.
"We have capabilities of being really, really good," Minter said. "We didn't start the way we wanted to, we responded really well. We can be a lot better in the red zone. A lot of that's with me and some of the things we were doing.
"To have some of the numbers that we had … that's a game where we need to keep that game under 17, 16, 15 points. We let them off the hook I felt like in the red zone and the points ended up higher than we really wanted it to be."
The Ravens' big second-half lead did mean they played with lighter boxes to avoid giving up a big play that would let the Colts back in the game quickly. However, Minter didn't disagree with a C+ grade that safety Kyle Hamilton gave the defense in its debut.
"I love that," Minter said.
Trey Hendrickson's Impact Was Immediately Felt
In his first game with the Ravens, Trey Hendrickson had a huge impact on the game without recording a sack.
According to Next Gen Stats, Colts quarterback Daniel Jones was the most pressured quarterback of Week 1. The Ravens pressured Jones on 18 of his 34 drop backs (52.9%).
When Hendrickson was on the field, the Ravens' pressure on Jones increased significantly. He had eight pressures and came close a couple times to taking Jones down.
"I know they're some top of the rush things that he'll really focus on to be able to finish," Minter said. "But I thought our rushing overall was really effective. I thought he was a really big piece of the game."
Tavius Robinson had one of the Ravens' sacks and recorded four quarterback hits. Minter said Hendrickson's presence helped Robinson get home.
"When you get to play on the opposite side of Trey, that's what happens sometimes," Minter said. "It's that player's opportunity to take advantage of it."
