The Ravens came out of Sunday's 41-23 win in Indianapolis with a 1-0 record, 506 yards of offense — their most since October 2024 — and a wide receiver room suddenly short two bodies. On Monday, head coach Jesse Minter drew a clear line between the two injuries: Zay Flowers should be fine before long, and rookie Ja'Kobi Lane probably won't be.
"Zay [Flowers] is probably a little bit more in the day-to-day range," Minter said. "[I] feel pretty good about where that is at. We will see how the week goes though there. Ja'Kobi [Lane] might be a little bit longer. We are getting some more things looked at right now and talking to different people. That is where those two guys are at."
Zay Flowers: Day-to-Day With a Hamstring
Flowers was the best player on the field before he wasn't. He caught five passes for 150 yards and a touchdown — a career high in yardage, all of it in the first half — including a 54-yard score and a 49-yard grab on Baltimore's opening drive. He came off after a 12-yard catch against Sauce Gardner, took his helmet off on the sideline and did not return.
The hamstring is not considered serious, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, who reported that Flowers likely would have gone back in had this been a playoff game. That fits with Minter's read on Monday, though the coach was candid about the longer-term calculation with an injury like this — particularly given that Flowers also missed practice time in training camp with a minor hamstring issue after joint work with Minnesota.
"There are a lot of thoughts that go into that," Minter said when asked whether this becomes something Flowers manages all year. "Anytime you are dealing with things that — it is not enough to really be a major detriment for multiple things, but you want to make sure it is not something you are dealing with for 17, 18 weeks. That is all things that, as the day-to-day thing, we will look at and make sure we are putting Zay [Flowers] in the best position."
Translation: even if Flowers could play Sunday against New Orleans, the Ravens are going to weigh Week 2 against Weeks 3 through 18.
Ja'Kobi Lane: Wrist Injury With No Clear Timeline
Lane's situation is murkier, and the early reporting is worse. The third-round pick out of USC is believed to have fractured his wrist and is expected to miss several weeks, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Rapoport. Minter didn't put a number on it Monday, saying only that the team was still gathering information.
Part of what makes it a strange one: nobody can point to the play.
"It wasn't one of those plays where you feel it right away," Minter said. "It was an after-the-fact thing — [he] felt it and then obviously [we] start looking at it. [It is] unfortunate for him."
Lane had been one of the more encouraging stories of Baltimore's offseason. In his debut he caught one pass for 11 yards on three targets, was targeted on a fourth down near the goal line, and had a 4-yard touchdown catch wiped out by a holding penalty on center Jovaughn Gwyn. He exited at halftime.
Who Fills the Snaps
Minter's answer to that question was less about panic and more about a depth chart he already trusts. Devontez Walker, who was inactive Sunday with a minor issue, and Elijah Sarratt are the names he went to first.
"[With] 'Tez' [Devontez] Walker and [Elijah] Sarratt — [I] have a lot of confidence in those guys," Minter said. "Those guys have had a ton of reps within our offense. 'Tez' was dealing with something minor this past week that we sort of pushed him [back]. Those two guys have a real opportunity to kind of get themselves into the boat [and] get themselves in rhythm. Then, we will look at all options obviously to figure out what is best for the 70 guys that we have available as we talk about the 53 and the practice squad."
Asked directly whether the Ravens might add a receiver this week, Minter allowed that "there is potential for that."
LaJohntay Wester, who caught his first two regular-season passes Sunday and finished with 75 all-purpose yards, and veteran Chris Moore are also in line for more work. So is Rashod Bateman, who finished without a catch that counted — his lone reception was erased by a penalty — but drew unprompted praise from his head coach.
"I give 'Bate' [Rashod Bateman] a lot of credit, because he played the game the right way," Minter said. "He ran good routes, and he was open at times. A lot of [the] time, maybe the play didn't go to him or whatever. But he is blocking downfield, and he is being unselfish. I think the offense will show over time that it could be anybody's big day on any day. So, I am excited about how he played, and I think there are big days ahead for 'Bate.'"
Baltimore hosts the Saints in its home opener at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, September 20.
Notes From Minter's Monday Press Conference
T.J. Tampa's knee is the third injury to watch. The cornerback left early Sunday and, unlike Flowers, has no timeline attached yet. "It could be a little bit more than a week. It could be more than that. I am not sure," Minter said. He noted the Ravens' new schedule has players in the building on Mondays now, which pushes final testing and outside consultations to Monday afternoon: "[We will] probably know more about it as we go throughout the week."
The offensive line got Minter's highest praise, penalties and all. Baltimore started Jovaughn Gwyn and Vega Ioane for the first time in their careers and still cleared the way for 202 rushing yards on 37 carries. "I thought in the run game we were really good. We were rolling off the ball," Minter said. "It is the pre-snap penalties — there are a couple of those. Ronnie [Stanley] kind of got caught one time where he didn't really realize another guy was blocking a guy, and we ended up in a chop block situation." The team finished with 10 penalties for 86 yards.
On the two first-time starters: "[For] Jovaughn [Gwyn] — to be [making his] first start on the road in an environment like that ... to really handle all that pretty well, kudos to him. And then Vega [Ioane] — I thought, man, this guy, again, he can be an enforcer for us on the offensive line."
Minter pointed to the game's first snap as the tell. "On a play that we may potentially even fumble that ball down there inside the 5-yard line, four of our offensive linemen are the first people there to recover the ball. That is just the way those guys play."
Trey Hendrickson had no sacks and, per Minter, dominated anyway. Hendrickson generated eight pressures. Next Gen Stats measured the difference: with him on the field, the Ravens pressured Daniel Jones at a 58.6% clip with two sacks; without him, 20.0% and none. "I think Daniel Jones was pressured on drop-backs more than any quarterback in the league yesterday," Minter said. "It is not always going to be sacks. It is going to be pressures and low passer rating, low completion percentage."
Tavius Robinson took advantage of the attention Hendrickson drew. Robinson had a sack and four quarterback hits. "Violent, physical — [it was a] really well-rounded game," Minter said. "When you get to play on the opposite side of Trey [Hendrickson], that is what happens sometimes. ... It is that player's opportunity to take advantage of it, and he did a great job."
The Ravens played nickel and dime nearly all game and lived with the run. Jonathan Taylor ran for 98 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns and finished with 121 yards from scrimmage, but Indianapolis managed just 251 total yards. Minter framed it as a deliberate trade. "There is definitely a cost analysis of [a] three-score lead — loading the box to stop the run versus not letting them have one play that gets them back into the game," he said. "For us to be able to play with five and six DBs really that whole game and to limit that offense — [I am] definitely pleased with that."
Two takeaways, and a stated goal of one interception a game. Roquan Smith picked off Jones after tipping the ball to himself, and Marlon Humphrey forced and recovered a fumble by ripping at the ball on a secured tackle. "That play by Marlon is the epitome of 'let's attack the football,'" Minter said. He told the team that 17 interceptions would rank top two or three in the league: "Let's get one interception a game."
Kyle Hamilton graded the defense a C-plus. Minter agreed. "No, I love that. I love that," he said. "That is a game where we need to keep that game under 17, under 16, under 15 points. The way that we played, we let them off the hook, I felt like, in the red zone."
Tyler Loop answered a rough preseason. The kicker went 2-for-2 with a career-long 57-yarder before halftime and a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter, plus 5-for-5 on extra points, after missing three attempts in the preseason and watching the Ravens bring in Jake Moody. Minter said the makes change his own math on fourth down: "When you are sitting there on the 38-yard line and you are wondering what you should do, now there is like, 'OK, the last couple times out there he nailed it.'"
Minter on calling the defense as a first-year head coach. "I didn't think I did a great job on the first drive defensively. I thought we adjusted well, but, man, just a fun opportunity to have that." He credited defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and said he could still hear the offensive side of the headset while Declan Doyle called plays.
And on the win itself. Minter's first as an NFL head coach brought a flood of messages. "The coolest ones are, like, people that I have worked with or that have helped me get to this point, which was a lot of them."