It remains to be seen whether Zay Flowers will be able to play in Saturday night's Wild-Card playoff opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Head Coach John Harbaugh confirmed Monday morning that it's not a season-ending injury, a day after Flowers was slated to get an MRI.
"It's just going to be day-to-day," Harbaugh said. "He's going to try to do everything he can to get back as soon as he can. We'll see where that takes us."
Flowers grabbed for his knee after making a 12-yard catch in the second quarter of Saturday's regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns. Flowers' knee was hit hard by Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate as the Pro Bowl receiver went to the ground.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Saturday night that it's believed to be a knee sprain. Harbaugh did not elaborate on the nature of the injury.
Flowers leads the Ravens with 74 catches for 1,059 yards this season. He has 19 big plays (20+ yards). However, the Ravens have a record-setting offense full of weapons they can turn to if Flowers can't suit up against the Steelers.
Harbaugh Has Confidence in Rashod Bateman, Ravens Weapons
Rashod Bateman had a career-high 756 yards receiving and nine touchdown catches this season, including five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown in Baltimore's 35-10 victory over the Browns.
His consistency and ability to make explosive plays has made the Ravens' offense even more versatile, and he stepped to the forefront after Flowers left Saturday's game. Harbaugh said he has always believed in Bateman, a former first-round draft pick.
"It's the same as I've always felt about it," Harbaugh said. "Rashod Bateman has always been high on my list and on my charts. I think he's a tremendous player, tremendous athlete, tremendous competitor and excellent wide receiver. He brings a tremendous skillset to it. He's been playing at a high level all year.
"He made big plays for us in that game (against Cleveland) this past week. He was a factor in those drives in getting us into scoring position numerous times. Yes, he's good, but it's not just Rashod. I don't think it's about one guy – it's everybody. We have a lot of weapons. We can move guys around in different ways, scheme those guys up, and they can all make plays."
Health Update on Justice Hill, Patrick Mekari
Running back Justice Hill didn't play due to illness against the Browns, while starting left guard Patrick Mekari played just six snaps, giving way to Andrew Vorhees, who played 47.
Harbaugh said Hill and Mekari are both feeling better this week.
"They're trending well," Harbaugh said. "Patrick, I just felt like … I wanted to help him. He would have played the whole game, believe me. He wanted to play, and Justice wanted to play, too, but he wasn't as close at Patrick. So those guys will be much stronger this week than they were last week."
Harbaugh on Facing Steelers for Third Time This Season
Saturday will be the third time the Ravens have faced the Steelers since mid-November, adding to the familiarity between two rivals that already know each other well.
"I don't think there's any specific difficulty in it – this process is still the same," Harbaugh said. "You probably have certain things that are understood. There's a lot of things that have kind of been ingrained in your knowledge of a team in division like that who you've already played twice, so your jumping-off point is further down the road for sure. That's about the only difference."
This will be the fifth time during the Harbaugh era that the Ravens face an AFC North opponent in the playoffs. The last time Baltimore and Pittsburgh faced off in the postseason was in the divisional round of the 2014 playoffs, a 30-17 Ravens win.
"I just think it's part of the process," Harbaugh said, pointing to the 2022 playoffs when the Ravens played the Bengals in the regular-season finale and then the Wild-Card round in back-to-back weeks. "A lot of our teams in this division make the playoffs. [When] we run into them, it's probably pretty normal."
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin agreed that coming up with new ways to attack a divisional opponent will be part of Pittsburgh's thought process.
"I just think the more familiar you are, the more significant the strategic component is," Tomlin said during his Monday press conference. "But as a coach, I welcome that. I want the responsibility of being a component of how this game unfolds and try to stay a step ahead of them. I'm sure they have the same agenda regarding us. It doesn't get routine with each matchup. It gets more sophisticated, it gets more complex, and from a coaching perspective more fun."
