Ravens WR Flowers Points to Harbaugh's Brutal Practice Approach as Reason for Injury Plague

Zay Flowers isn't holding back about what went wrong in Baltimore last season. The Ravens wide receiver went on the "4th and South" podcast this week and laid it all out: John Harbaugh's grueling practice philosophy was a major reason the team got decimated by injuries.

Full Pads, Every Day, Until Bodies Broke

Here's what Flowers said on the pod, and it's pretty blunt. The Ravens were in full pads constantly. Every single practice they could do in pads, they did it. Week 17 rolled around and Baltimore was still running one-on-one drills with the whole roster out there, exhausted, pushing hard. "Full pads all the time," Flowers explained. "However many practices in pads you can get, every single one. We're doing one-on-ones in Week 17. Week 17, we're doing one-on-ones, everybody out there, we're tired, we're still going."

When asked how players managed that kind of workload, Flowers' answer was simple and damning: "We don't."

The Price of Going Hard

Flowers connected the dots between those grueling practices and the injury problems that plagued the Ravens down the stretch. "That's why we had a lot of injuries, because of how we practiced, how we went. The load was heavy," he said. The injuries piled up as the 2025 season wore on, and Baltimore finished 8-9 in what turned out to be Harbaugh's 18th and final season in charge.

Now, with a new coaching regime in place, Flowers seems hopeful that the Ravens can keep their guys healthier moving forward. A different approach to practice intensity could make all the difference as Baltimore looks to bounce back in 2026.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.