BALTIMORE — One of the first conversations Zay Flowers had with new Ravens coach Jesse Minter was about how hard they’d be practicing.

Having spent four years on John Harbaugh’s staff, Minter had an idea about how the old guard managed each week. Flowers sounded exhausted just talking about it.

The 25-year-old star recently sat down with former players Jarvis Landry and Leonard Fournette on the “4th and South” podcast and explained that last year, the Ravens wore pads in every practice they were allowed. Then Flowers started adding up how many yards he ran each week.

Landry chimed in, “Man, we need to get the NFLPA on the line.”

“Low key, that’s why we had a lot of injuries,” Flowers said, “cause of how we practiced. Load was heavy.”

Teams are permitted a total of 14 padded practices over the entire regular season, according to the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Eleven of them need to be held over the first 11 weeks.

The 2025 Ravens never seemed to escape the injury bug (after an unusually healthy 2024). It was the most obvious scapegoat for players to explain the disappointing 8-9 finish. Quarterback Lamar Jackson missed four games because of lower-body ailments. By Week 5, half the starting defense was sidelined. In all, 11 players landed on injured reserve, most notably All-Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) in Week 2 and rookie linebacker Teddye Buchanan (torn ACL) in Week 15.

Flowers was shocked to hear the news of Harbaugh’s firing. But when Minter and his staff arrived in Owings Mills, Flowers was still thinking about that grueling practice schedule.

“[Minter] was like, ‘You gonna get your work. But it’s gonna be a little bit easier on your body,’” Flowers said. “You’re gonna be fresher for the game.”

Flowers, a two-time Pro Bowl selection who played in all 17 games, said he used the cold tub to recover every single day, even on game day. Fournette shook his head at that one. Team employees would bring ice to Flowers’ room so he could cold tub at 7 a.m., he said, just to be sure his legs were fresh. Clearly, it worked because Flowers led the Ravens with 86 catches for 1,211 yards.

When asked about new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and how Flowers might be deployed in the offense this fall, Flowers’ face lit up.

“It’s gonna be a little bit more usage,” Flowers said. “I’ve been telling them for a minute bro, nobody want to listen though.”

Baltimore’s most productive pass catcher sounded eager for all the explosive play opportunities, something Doyle promised at his introductory news conference, then again speaking with fans during Thursday night’s unveiling of the team’s new uniforms.

Landry was hesitant to make the comparison. Then he invoked the league’s highest-paid receiver, Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was drafted in 2023 like Flowers.

“How Seattle uses JSN,” Landry said.

“That’s how you use me,” Flowers jumped in. “You can put that boy everywhere.”

Smith-Njigba is coming off a Super Bowl campaign, leading the league with 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns on 119 catches. It earned him a hefty payday as he recently signed a four-year, $168.6 million contract extension.

As Flowers enters the final year of his rookie deal, there are looming questions about his value on a second contract. He has become a go-to target for Jackson and a significant contributor, despite a pair of gut-wrenching fumbles and a Week 18 injury that sidelined him for the 2024 playoffs. Flowers told Landry and Fournette that he remembers hearing about Baltimore’s reputation for never hitting on top-tier receivers in the draft.

“I’m like, you got me [messed] up,” he said. “They didn’t have no Pro Bowlers. I’m like, I’m about to come here and change all that. … I’m gonna change the way everyone sees receivers in Baltimore.”

Credit Jackson for that. He’s the one throwing Flowers the ball. But during the predraft interview, Harbaugh, now the coach of the New York Giants, told the 18-year-old Boston College receiver coming off a three-win season that Jackson wanted him in Baltimore.

“That’s the right thing to do,” Flowers told him.

His work ethic and production have largely proven them right. Flowers was the first homegrown Ravens receiver to be named to the Pro Bowl. He logged back-to-back 1,000-plus-yard seasons. He also spent several minutes on “4th and South” explaining his new pilates routine and pool workouts, or running the route tree on a hill for speed. This offseason, he’s been driving up to Jackson’s driveway and slamming on the horn to get his quarterback up early and over to the field (Jackson isn’t a morning person, Flowers said).

It’s clear that Flowers loves to practice. Maybe just not to the extent Harbaugh pushed the team last season.

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