Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers suffered a worrying knee injury in Saturday’s game, prompting a number of people to have the same reaction.
Flowers went down grabbing his right knee after being tackled during the second quarter of Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. He was able to walk off the field slowly, but wound up going to the locker room and was deemed questionable to return.
Ravens WR Zay Flowers just went down with a right knee injury… walked off slowly with help. pic.twitter.com/Q2N6k1pvhZ
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) January 4, 2025
Even as Flowers’ status remained uncertain, pretty much everyone said the same thing about the injury. To most, it served as a perfect example of why the Philadelphia Eagles are taking the right approach by resting Saquon Barkley on Sunday.
Zay Flowers week 18 knee injury against a 3-13 team is the reason why Saquon Barkley cannot play against the Giants pic.twitter.com/ela6YihxAO
— Chris OIIey (@chrisoIIey) January 4, 2025
Nick Sirianni watching what happened to Zay Flowers: pic.twitter.com/ptF2rP058Q
— Davon Evans (@GoodFellah91) January 4, 2025
People are looking at what just happened to Bateman and Zay Flowers and are mad Saquon isn’t playing by the way
— Prez💊 ‘ (@PresidentEmbiid) January 4, 2025
People will watch Zay Flowers and this Ravens game and still look you dead in the eye and say Saquon Barkley should play tomorrow.
— Luke Arcaini (@ArcainiLuke) January 4, 2025
Zay Flowers down in pain.
And people mad Saquon Barkley isn’t playing in the last game. pic.twitter.com/9Mz3hXQ7dO
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) January 4, 2025
Flowers’ injury may prove to be minor, but it still functions as a cautionary tale. The Ravens can clinch the AFC North with a win, so this game is not completely meaningless to them, but they are in the playoffs either way. Any significant injury will lead to second-guessing with their playoff ticket already punched.
By contrast, the Eagles have nothing to play for, having locked themselves into the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Barkley needs 101 yards to break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record, but the Eagles are planning on playing it safe and sitting him against the New York Giants. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni would never live it down if Barkley suffered an injury while pursuing that record in a game that otherwise has no significance in terms of seeding.
Sirianni is making the right call. Flowers’ injury scare might be a reminder to those who disagree with it.
