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News & Notes: John Harbaugh Says 'We'll See' on Zay Flowers' Status

WR Zay Flowers
WR Zay Flowers

Head Coach John Harbaugh gave an update Monday on the status of wide receiver Zay Flowers, who missed Baltimore's wild-card playoff win over the Steelers with a knee injury.

"That's in will-see mode, he's working hard to get back," Harbaugh said. "We'll see toward the end of the week if he's practicing, and he could play without practicing for sure if he feels healthy enough and if it's safe for him."

Flowers was unable to practice last week after suffering his injury in the regular-season finale. He led the team with 74 catches for 1,059 yards and became the first wide receiver drafted by the Ravens to make the Pro Bowl. Saturday was Flowers' first missed game due to injury in his two-year career.

With Flowers out against the Steelers, the Ravens leaned heavily on their tight ends, using 2-TE sets on a season-high 69.4% of plays, per Next Gen Stats. Isaiah Likely led the team with 53 receiving yards on three catches.

Meanwhile, several wide receivers stepped up. Tylan Wallace made a critical 21-yard catch for a first down, Rashod Bateman opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown reception, Nelson Agholor had a 25-yard reception, and Anthony Miller made three catches.

Lamar Jackson Not Expected to Miss Practice Time

Lamar Jackson was kneed in the back during the second quarter Saturday night and said he wrapped his back with a heat pad during the game. However, Harbaugh does not expect Jackson to miss any time when the Ravens return to the practice field on Wednesday.

"It doesn't look that way from what I've been told," Harbaugh said.

Jackson said the pain didn't impact his performance.

"I'm good," Jackson said after the game. "It really didn't affect me at all, to be honest with you. Just a little nag, but I'm good. Nothing to worry about."

Brandon Stephens Being Targeted Could Work to Baltimore's Advantage

Brandon Stephens played 100% of the defensive snaps on Saturday night for the first time since Week 8. It has been a demanding season for Stephens, who was the fifth most-targeted cornerback in the NFL during the regular season, per Next Gen Stats.

Harbaugh loves the way Stephens battles, and hopes it works to the Ravens' advantage if opponents continue to target him regularly.

"When you get a lot of targets, you're going to have more completions, for sure – that's just the way it goes – but you also make more plays," Harbaugh said. "He's made a real, good number of plays. If we get the sense that an offense is targeting a particular part of the field … now we have an idea where you're going to kind of target. We can roll our coverage that way. We can put the strength of our coverage over there, too, so it's kind of a two-way street that way."

Deonte Harty's Availability Will Be Determined Later in Week

Harbaugh said he was not sure if wide receiver/returner Deonte Harty would be available for the divisional playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. Harty (knee/personal), who has not played since October, was a full participant in two of the Ravens' practices last week but was not activated from injured reserve ahead of the game.

"He had been gone for quite a while," Harbaugh said. "He had the physical situation, he had some personal things he was dealing with. But he was working hard in practice last week. You've just got to make sure he's ready, he's in shape and mentally ready. In his mind he's ready, I can tell you that, (he) wants to play. We'll just have to see."

The Ravens have used four different punt returners this season, and Steven Sims took the role Saturday night. Though he muffed his first opportunity and let two other punts hit the ground without catching them, Harbaugh noted he had a challenging task.

"Steven is a guy that we also have confidence in," Harbaugh said. "I know he had a couple balls go on the ground last week. It was windy. The Steelers' punter was a lefty. He was bombing the ball, for sure. On the very first one, I don't know if he lost track of where he was at, but we don't want to be backing up inside the 8-yard line and catching those kinds of punts. Give it a chance to get in the end zone, so he'd like to have that one back.

"Then he decided to not field two other ones, and it turned out OK for us the way they bounced, but he's done well. He's an experienced guy, and he'll do well back there, too. So, we're confident, or if Tylan [Wallace] was back there, we'll be confident with Tylan, too. Those guys all do a good job."

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