The Buffalo Bills are preparing for a major challenge in stopping Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry in Sunday’s divisional-round playoff game.
The Bills may avoid facing one of the team’s other star players on offense.
Wide receiver Zay Flowers has been out since suffering a knee injury in the team’s season finale. He missed Baltimore’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round, and now could be on the wrong track for this weekend’s game against the Bills.
Grim Signs for Ravens
Flowers has not been able to return to practice this week, and ESPN insider Adam Schefter said in an appearance on “Get Up” this week that Flowers is not on track to return against the Bills.
“It looks like the Ravens could be without their standout wide receiver Zay Flowers, who hurt his knee in the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns… missed last week’s wild card game,” Schefter said, via On3. “The Ravens had thought that there was a chance that Flowers could make it back for Sunday afternoon’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills, but the first practice of the week is a no practice. Not a great sign.”
Flowers led the Ravens this season with 74 catches for 1,059 yards. He added four touchdowns, earning a Pro Bowl nod in his second NFL season.
Schefter indicated that there is no final decision on Flowers, adding that it could be a true game-time decision.
“We’ll see if Flowers can make it back. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said that Flowers doesn’t have to practice this week to be able to play on Sunday. One more element to keep in mind,” Schefter said.
Bills Ready for a Challenge on Defense
The Bills know well what kind of firepower the Ravens will bring on offense. The teams met earlier this season with the Ravens handing the Bills their worst loss in years, a 35-10 victory where the Bills struggled to contain both Jackson and Henry.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott gave credit to the Ravens’ coaching staff for utilizing their two star players.
“I think coach (Todd) Monken is one of the best out there in what they do in their offense, in the run game in particular, and then you’ve got to be able to tackle Derrick Henry,” McDermott said.
The Bills have hope that they can better contain the duo this time around, with a trio of key players back on the field. The Bills were missing linebackers Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard and cornerback Taron Johnson in the first meeting, with all three back to full health and ready to play on Sunday.
Bernard said the team will need to be sharp this time if they want to contain Henry.
“22 (Henry) is big, runs hard, he’s super-fast and then you got Lamar, who’s a great athlete as well, makes a lot of guys miss, can run away from guys,” Bernard said. “So, I think that goes back to just the fundamentals of what we want to do. Things we’ve worked on since training camp. That’s the main emphasis, is getting back to doing what we do and sticking to our fundamentals and going out there and playing our best ball.”
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