Ravens Star WR Expected to Avoid Surgery

Baltimore Ravens fans held their collective breath when star wide receiver Zay Flowers went down with a knee injury in the regular-season finale on Jan. 4, fearing a potential ACL tear or something similar.

Thankfully, that ended up not being the case.

Yes, Flowers missed both of the Ravens' postseason games, and they certainly would've liked to have him out there for Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round. However, his long-term health is far more important than two playoff games, even if one of them was an agonizing defeat.

On that note, head coach John Harbaugh delivered another bit of good news at Wednesday's end-of-season press conference, stating that Flowers likely won't require knee surgery this offseason. If he does undergo surgery, then it will likely just be a minor clean-up.

"[He] should be fine going forward," Harbaugh told reporters. "I don't think it's going to be a surgery in the end, but they haven't determined that for sure yet. If they do it, they'll probably just do it to kind of just be sure. But yes, that's where it was at."

Furthermore, Harbaugh confirmed that Flowers would've had "a great chance" to play if Baltimore had advanced to the AFC Championship Game. Flowers himself said as much when the Ravens cleaned out their lockers on Monday, so this is merely additional confirmation.

"Yes, [Flowers] had a great chance to play in this next game," Harbaugh said. "It was ... Doubtful was a good designation for this game. They wanted to work him out before the game just in case, but I wasn't counting on it, honestly. I'm not going to rule him out until he's out. This next game [he] would've had a real chance."

A 2023 first-round pick from Boston College, Flowers emerged as the top wideout the Ravens had been missing in his second season. He caught 74 passes for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns on the season, becoming the Ravens' first 1,000-yard wideout since 2021.

If Flowers continues to build on this season's performance, as all signs suggest he will, then the Ravens could have a special receiver on their hands.

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