Lamar Jackson isn’t sounding the alarm about the Ravens’ receiver injuries. If anything, he’s leaning into the depth chart shuffle and betting the offense can keep humming no matter who’s out there with him Sunday.
That confidence comes with real uncertainty at the skill positions. Zay Flowers could return from a hamstring issue, though the Ravens may be cautious.
Ja’Kobi Lane is out at least a month after wrist surgery. Devontez Walker is dealing with a groin issue, though Baltimore hopes he’ll be available.
Elijah Sarratt, a fourth-round pick, was a healthy scratch in Week 1 but is expected to get a chance. And with Lane out, coordinator Declan Doyle may slide rookie tight end Matthew Hibner into that slot role.
Jackson made clear he trusts the next wave of options.
“Zay was down during camp, and guys stepped in and did what they were supposed to do,” Jackson said in his weekly media session, “and coach always emphasizes that as well … Tay (return guy LaJohntay Wester), Tez, Chris Moore, Eljah - those guys are going to step up and do what they’re supposed to do.”
Still, there’s no mistaking what Flowers means to this offense. Before the hamstring issue flared in Indianapolis, he and Jackson were doing special things together.
Jackson’s Week 1 performance was already outrageous by his own standards. In the first half alone, he went 12 of 18 for 229 yards and a touchdown, good for a 128.2 rating, and added three carries for 40 yards.
That’s 270 total yards before halftime, with gains of 54, 49, 19, 19, 18, 17 and 17 among his arm and leg plays. He also piled up 10 plays of 10 yards or more in the half.
“It’s very strange to be on his team,” corner Marlon Humphrey said of Jackson Wednesday, "because practice doesn’t really give the true story of how they’re going to operate … You get to the game and it’s just La Marvelous, as they say.”
A big part of that surge came from the Ravens’ shift under center. Jackson was under center for a career-high 37 snaps Sunday, a number he had topped 30 only once before in his career.
From 2019-2025, he averaged nine snaps per game under center. The setup also fit Derrick Henry, who averaged 6.5/carry under center Sunday.
Jackson said the payoff is simple.
“More explosives,” Jackson said as to what the shift under center means. “The advantage is they don’t know if I’m running, is Derrick running it? Is it a run play or a pass play?”
Doyle is expected to keep leaning into pre-snap deception, and Week 1 offered a couple of clear examples: an under-center fake to Flowers on a sweep before Jackson hit Henry for 19 yards, and a Flowers alignment at running back that turned into a 54-yard wheel route touchdown.
“The confusion it creates with the motion … they don’t really know who to pinpoint,” Jackson noted.
With protection issues and a shaky interior offensive line, the Ravens have even more reason to keep working that angle. Jackson can elevate less proven pass catchers with the way he throws, the arm angles he uses and the way he attacks defenses. But Baltimore still needs Rashod Bateman to be a bigger factor, especially if Flowers can’t play.
Bateman, a former first-round pick, becomes the top downfield option if Flowers sits, though Jackson and Bateman have not yet put together consistent results in the passing game. Jackson has a lower passer rating throwing to Bateman than to any teammate he has targeted at least 40 times, and Bateman’s career outside of 2024 has been largely quiet. The Ravens are also waiting on word about potential off-field discipline for him.
Jackson expects more involvement in Week 2 after Bateman had one target and no catches Sunday, though he did block well.
“Great relationship, man,” Jackson said of him. “My guy is actually going to see a lot more targets, I believe, with guys going down.”
In Other News...
Ravens Rookie Receiver Suddenly Leaves Baltimore Facing An Early Test
The Ravens have already hit a delicate early-season snag with rookie receiver Ja'Kobi Lane, who landed on injured reserve after a wrist injury and is now set to miss at least the first four weeks of the season. Surgery was done to help the healing process, and the timing means Baltimore will have to move ahead without one of its young pass-catching options right away.
Lane is not eligible to play in Weeks 2 through 5, which leaves the Ravens waiting for a possible return around Week 6 or soon after. For a team trying to settle its offensive rhythm in September, the setback adds an early layer of uncertainty around a rookie whose availability had been part of the plan. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens May Be Shedding The Problem That Kept Haunting Them Late
Baltimore has spent too much of the John Harbaugh era wrestling with the same late-game problem, the kind of collapses and playoff heartbreaks that turned solid stretches into nagging regrets. The latest chapter around the Ravens is different in tone, with new head coach Jesse Minter preaching something simpler and maybe harder to sustain: play at a high level for the full game, not just when the script is comfortable.
The road win over the Indianapolis Colts offered a useful glimpse of that approach. Even with injuries thinning out the wide receiver group, the Ravens found enough from the players on hand to keep the offense steady and the operation more consistent than it has often looked in the past. The bigger question now is whether this version of Baltimore is really putting the old late-game problem behind it, or just showing a cleaner face before the next pressure test arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Emery Jones Week 1 Scratch Says Plenty About His Ravens Role
The Ravens Week 1 decision on Emery Jones Jr. offered an early glimpse into where he stands in the offensive line pecking order. Baltimore chose not to activate the rookie for the opener and leaned on Andrew Vorhees as the backup guard, a move that suggests the staff is prioritizing the more established option while Jones continues to work his way forward.
Jones still brings the kind of versatility that can make him useful down the road, and offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford has talked about him as a player with future value. For now, though, the path is clear enough: Vorhees is ahead of him, and Jones has yet to earn a larger role as the 2026 season gets going. [Read more 🡒]