In one video posted to social media, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson drops back and hits wide receiver Zay Flowers on a deep crossing route. In another, he connects with Baltimore’s leading receiver from last season on a deep corner.

The scenes unfolded on South Florida fields last month and the sessions might seem, at least in the larger picture of where the Ravens are trying to ultimately get to, mostly inconsequential.

They weren’t entirely without merit, though.

“It just get our timing down,” Flowers said Tuesday in Owings Mills during voluntary organized team activities. “Talking about routes, detailing small things on routes.”

Though Jackson, among others, was absent from Tuesday’s practice, the bond between the two has been obvious since Baltimore drafted Flowers 22nd overall out of Boston College in 2023.

In just his second season, Flowers was selected to the Pro Bowl after posting 74 catches for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns. He was the first Ravens receiver in franchise history to be selected and the first with at least 1,000 receiving yards in a season since Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in 2021.

The two clips could also perhaps be a harbinger of how the Ravens might look to deploy him this season.

In 2024, Flowers had just eight catches on 21 targets at least 20 yards downfield, per Pro Football Focus. He put up nearly identical numbers (nine catches, 21 targets) his rookie year.But with the addition of DeAndre Hopkins, a three-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl selection who has spent a dozen years carving up defenses in the short and intermediate part of the field, along with the rise of Rashod Bateman in all parts of the field, it’s possible Flowers could have his biggest impact as a deep threat.

Last season, Flowers, who was targeted 116 times, ranked 19th in average depth of target (10.40 yards), per FTN Fantasy, among wide receivers with at least 97 targets. For comparison, the leader of that group was Tennessee Titans standout Calvin Ridley with an average depth of target of 15.69 yards on his way to 64 catches for 1,009 yards and four touchdowns.

Three of those passes of 20 or more yards to Ridley went for touchdowns.

Flowers, meanwhile, had only one ball that traveled more than 20 yards through the air that went for a touchdown. That came in a Week 9 victory at home against the Denver Broncos in which he finished with five catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns, including one that traveled 22 yards through the air and went for 54 total yards for his longest score of the year.

But even that was emblematic of his skill set after the ball is in his hands — 463 of Flowers’ 1,059 yards last season came after the catch. In fact, the majority of his targets and catches last year came in the 10-to-19-yard range and zero-to-10-yard range, followed by passes he caught behind the line of scrimmage.

However Baltimore uses Flowers amid the addition of Hopkins — who, even at age 32, still possesses some of the best hands in the game along with the ability to get open — the rising star will be expected to carry a big load.

“We just gotta get hm the ball more,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Tuesday. “He’s not only an outside receiver that has elite route running skills but he’s unbelievable with the ball in his hands, so you have a guy who fits two positions, plays two positions.

“You can use him in a variety of roles to get him the ball, which allows your volume to go up. … I expect him to take another leap in terms of his consistency.”

It helps that Flowers is again healthy after injuring his knee in the 2024 regular-season finale that resulted in him missing Baltimore’s wild-card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and its divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills the following week.

“My knee is great,” he said, adding that it was difficult to watch the playoffs from the sideline. “I feel 100%. I feel I’m ready to go. I’m ready for the season. No limits.”

Now the only question is what, if any, limits there will be with unleashing him downfield, an area that Flowers excelled in during his college days and is eager to shine in once again.

“It shows I can unlock a whole other level in my game,” Flowers said. “I haven’t unlocked it yet, so once we start hitting those downfield passes more I think we’re gonna be a lot more explosive plays between me and Rashod. And now we got ‘D-Hop,’ so it should be three times as much.”

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