The Ravens may not be bracing for a long Ja’Kobi Lane absence after all.
According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, the rookie wideout is expected to have surgery in the coming days to fix a wrist fracture he suffered in Baltimore’s 41-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts, but the timeline is shorter than the initial concern. Zenitz reported Lane should be back in about a month. Lane had one catch for 11 yards in the game, and he also had a touchdown wiped out by a penalty.
Baltimore could still be dealing with a thin receiver group in the short term. Zay Flowers is day to day with a hamstring injury after posting a monster afternoon against Indianapolis, finishing with a game-high five catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. That yardage total was a career high for Flowers.
Even with the injuries, the Ravens don’t appear to be facing a major long-term crisis at wide receiver. The team worked out Shedrick Jackson, Gage Larvadain, Dante Pettis and Octavian Smith Jr., and Larvadain ended up signing to the practice squad.
Larvadain, 23, entered the league as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2025 with the Cleveland Browns on May 11, 2025. He was waived on Sept. 13, then returned to the practice squad before being added back to the active roster on Sept.
30, 2025. He played in 13 games and finished with seven catches for 71 yards.
Sunday’s win also showed how Baltimore spread the workload around. Five receivers saw action: Chris Moore played 25 snaps, or 37 percent; LaJohntay Wester logged 20 snaps, or 29 percent; Lane had 27 snaps, or 40 percent; Flowers also had 20 snaps, or 29 percent; and Rashod Bateman led the group with 53 snaps, or 78 percent. Moore made the most of his lone catch, turning it into 53 yards, the second-longest reception of his career.
Bateman was quiet, with one target and no receptions, but he should see more opportunities if Lane is out and Flowers is limited. The Ravens could also get Devontez Walker and rookie Elijah Sarratt involved.
Through the air, Lamar Jackson completed 17 of 25 passes for 324 yards and a touchdown, with Baltimore’s receivers accounting for 11 targets. The tight ends drew their share too, as Mark Andrews was targeted six times and caught four passes for 49 yards, Matthew Hibner caught one pass for 10 yards on one target, and Durham Smythe added one catch for four yards on one target. Derrick Henry and Justice Hill were both targeted twice out of the backfield, with Henry catching one pass for 19 yards and Hill one for 10.
The passing numbers were strong, but the run game did the heavy lifting. Henry carried 24 times for 144 yards and three touchdowns, while Jackson added seven carries for 40 yards and Hill ran six times for 18 yards. Baltimore finished with 37 rushing attempts, a total that could loom large if the receiver room stays banged up over the next couple of games.
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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 🡒]
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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
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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 🡒]