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When is Zay Flowers coming back? Will Zay Flowers play again this season? Read about Zay Flowers's return date and injury updates for 2026.
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver (hamstring) wasn't able to play in his team's Week 2 loss to the New Orleans Saints. His presence is sorely missed.
It looked like he was set to have a monster season after his breakout performance in the first half of Week 1, but that will have to wait now.
When is Flowers coming back? What's the latest on his injury? And what's his fantasy football outlook for the rest of the season? Let's dive in.
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Zay Flowers Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Flowers picked up a dreaded hamstring injury after just one half of football in his first game of the season. As of Thursday, he's still not practicing. His outlook for Week 3 is pretty glum -- there's almost no chance he returns to practice at full capacity on Friday and plays in his team's next contest.
He wasn't placed on injured reserve, at least, but we typically see players miss between three and six weeks with hamstring issues, depending on the severity. He doesn't have another recorded hamstring injury in his NFL career that caused him to miss time, thankfully, as re-aggravations in the same hamstring can get complicated.
#Ravens injury report update: Zay Flowers and Ronnie Stanley once again did not practice. Everyone else on the Ravens injury report was at least a limited participant. Meanwhile the Cowboys have already ruled out four players. pic.twitter.com/XgnP38yr1c
— Avi Carr-Gloth (@avicarrgloth) September 24, 2026
Whether he returns to practice next week will be key. However, my analysis indicates that the Ravens will hold him out for at least three games, meaning a return in Week 5 is the most likely outcome. Hamstring injuries are fickle, and there are many players who re-injure the same hammy over and over again.
Recent examples are Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson, San Francisco 49ers WR Mike Evans, and Houston Texans wideout Nico Collins. Flowers is crucial to this offense, and rushing him back could be devastating to the Ravens' playoff aspirations.
Zay Flowers Fantasy Football Outlook
Flowers put up five catches on six targets for 150 yards and a touchdown in the first half of his team's Week 1 blowout win over the Indianapolis Colts. This, of course, won't happen every game, as no receiver has ever averaged 150 yards and one touchdown, even in a full contest, over the course of an NFL season.
Still, it appears new Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has crafted an excellent passing scheme and centered it around Flowers, who's popped in several efficiency metrics in his NFL career. He's indicated he has room to grow in the offense, and is a great separator on top of all that.
He's the undisputed WR1 on his team. Doyle has unleashed his talents to a greater degree than former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was ever able to do. The biggest missing piece of Flowers' game is his red zone ability -- he tends to disappear from the offense the closer they get to the end zone.
Zay Flowers was unstoppable before leaving with a hamstring injury today
5 REC, 150 YDS, 1 TD against the Colts in ONE HALF pic.twitter.com/k2a5LKUTTc
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) September 13, 2026
Being a 5-foot-9 receiver makes it incredibly difficult to succeed when the field is shorter, and you're going up against taller, athletic cornerbacks that can leap and extend their arms vertically further than you can. That doesn't mean Flowers can't be awesome for fantasy, though.
In addition to the positive traits above, Flowers possesses excellent run-after-catch prowess. On his long touchdown play, he out-raced multiple defenders to the end zone. He's also elusive and shifty, which makes it equally difficult to bring him down in the open field as it is to stay with him through the sharp cuts he makes in his routes.
Flowers is a WR1 for the rest of the season when he gets healthy, with serious top-5 WR potential in PPR fantasy leagues if his target rate stays consistent.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Week 1 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 1.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 1 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 1 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 1 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 1 for Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews:
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