Who Should I Start? Zay Flowers or Ricky Pearsall

Monday, January 5, 12:14 AM

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers delivered one of his best performances of the season in Week 18's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, catching four of six targets for 134 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdowns both came on similar coverage busts by the Pittsburgh secondary, going for 50 and 64 yards. Quarterback Lamar Jackson only attempted 18 passes in the game, but he targeted Flowers on a third of them. It marked the 25-year-old wideout's highest yardage total in a game since Week 1 against the Bills and the third two-touchdown game of his career. It was also Flowers' first touchdown of at least 30 yards since Week 9 of last season. Flowers closed the 2025 season with career highs in targets (118), receptions (86), and receiving yards (1,207), while matching his previous career best with five touchdowns.

Thursday, January 8, 5:08 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee, ankle) was seen on a side field during Thursday's practice, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic. Pearsall is going to go down as a non-participant in practice for the second straight day, which doesn't bode well for his availability on Sunday in the Wild-Card playoff game on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. The 25-year-old missed six games earlier this year due to a PCL sprain in his right knee, and he aggravated the injury in Week 17. The former first-rounder did not play in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks last Saturday and is on the wrong side of questionable to be active for the first round of the playoffs. If Pearsall misses Sunday's game, Jauan Jennings, Demarcus Robinson, and Kendrick Bourne could all see more targets in the passing game in a tough matchup against Philly's defense.