How Declan Doyle and Ravens Offense Can Attack Saints without Zay Flowers

With Zay Flowers sidelined by a hamstring injury, Lamar Jackson , Derrick Henry and Baltimore's receiving depth give new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle several ways to attack New Orleans .

The Baltimore Ravens will get their first real test of the adaptability of new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle's offense Sunday.

Baltimore ruled out Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers for its home opener against the New Orleans Saints because of a hamstring injury. Flowers missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, returned on a limited basis Friday and was downgraded from doubtful to out Saturday.

Flowers was the centerpiece of Doyle's passing attack in Baltimore's 41-23 season-opening victory over the Indianapolis Colts , catching five passes for a career-high 150 yards and a touchdown before aggravating the hamstring injury. He accounted for nearly half of Lamar Jackson 's 324 passing yards.

But Flowers' absence doesn't necessarily mean Baltimore has to find another receiver capable of producing 150 yards.

It may mean Doyle attacks New Orleans in an entirely different way.

And Doyle made it clear this week that adjusting to the personnel available is part of his job.

"Certainly, the availability of players – whoever that may be – shapes how you game-plan things," Doyle said. "I think that really is what being a good play caller [and] a good play designer is – being able to adjust."

Here are five ways that adjustment could take shape Sunday.

Start with Derrick Henry and make New Orleans stop the run

The most obvious adjustment is also probably the simplest: Give Derrick Henry plenty of work.

New Orleans allowed 165 rushing yards in its 31-30 overtime loss to Detroit in Week 1, while Baltimore ran for 202 yards against Indianapolis. Henry accounted for 144 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

That creates a matchup Baltimore can attack without asking any receiver to become Flowers.

Doyle showed in his debut that Baltimore's running game won't simply consist of handing the ball to Henry from conventional formations. The Ravens used unbalanced lines, multiple tight ends, misdirection and Jackson's threat as a runner to create favorable angles against Indianapolis.

Doyle was particularly pleased with the physicality he saw on tape.

"We want our tape to speak for itself – be playing violent away from the football [and] being high-effort players," Doyle said. "We were able to create a lot of space for our backs. We feel like our backs, if we can get them on safeties and corners, that is a good matchup for us."

Flowers' absence could make those concepts even more important.

Jackson also believes Baltimore's increased use of snaps from under center gives defenses more to process before they can commit to stopping Henry.

"They do not know if I am going to run it, [if] Derrick will run it. Is it a run play? Is it a pass play?" Jackson said. "It is a disadvantage [for the defense] each and every down, and we need that."

If New Orleans has to devote another defender to Henry and Jackson, Baltimore can manufacture favorable matchups for a receiving corps that suddenly looks much thinner.

Rashod Bateman should get his opportunity

Nobody has more to gain from Flowers' absence than Rashod Bateman.

Bateman went without a catch in the opener and was targeted only once, although another reception was erased by a penalty. But his quarterback expects the numbers to look different against New Orleans.

"My guy is actually going to get a lot more targets, I believe, with guys going down just because our offense is so explosive," Jackson said.

Doyle was already looking for ways to get Bateman involved against Indianapolis.

"I had a few plays in the openers that I felt like I wanted to try to throw the ball to him," Doyle said. "It just did not play out that way."

The coordinator also praised Bateman for what he did when the football wasn't coming his way. Bateman's blocking helped spring Henry's 32-yard touchdown run, something both Doyle and Jackson pointed out afterward.

Bateman doesn't need to duplicate Flowers' role Sunday. In fact, trying to make him do so would probably be counterproductive.

Flowers' quickness, yards-after-catch ability and versatility allow Doyle to move him all over the formation. Bateman can instead operate as Baltimore's primary conventional receiver and give Jackson a target on intermediate and deeper routes, particularly when play-action pulls Saints defenders toward Henry.

Bateman isn't worried about replacing Flowers' statistics.

"My time will come, and whenever that is, I will be ready," Bateman said. "I cannot be worrying about my stats. I need to be worried about how we can win a Super Bowl."

Use Baltimore's depth rather than trying to manufacture another Flowers

One of the central themes of Doyle's offense through the summer was versatility.

Now Baltimore gets to find out how much of it actually exists.

With Flowers out and rookie Ja'Kobi Lane on injured reserve following wrist surgery, Baltimore's available receivers include Bateman, Devontez Walker , Chris Moore , LaJohntay Wester and rookie Elijah Sarratt.

Head coach Jesse Minter doesn't want any of them trying to suddenly become Flowers.

"Just go out there and use the talent that you have been given and put it on display, within the framework of the offense," Minter said. "Not trying to go outside of who you are, man — just go out there and be you and run towards this opportunity."

That could mean spreading Flowers' responsibilities among several players.

Walker can provide vertical speed. Wester can be used on motion, screens and manufactured touches. Moore gives Baltimore an experienced, physical receiver who already produced a 53-yard reception after injuries hit the position against Indianapolis.

Jackson isn't worried about who gets the additional snaps.

"'Tay' [LaJohntay Wester], 'Tez' [Devontez Walker], Chris Moore, those guys are going to step in," Jackson said. "I have no doubt in my mind about our guys. They have been showing it throughout camp."

Expect more Mark Andrews and multiple-tight-end looks

Mark Andrews could be another major beneficiary of Flowers' absence.

The veteran tight end caught four passes for 49 yards against Indianapolis and remains one of Jackson's most trusted targets.

There is another reason Baltimore could feature its tight ends more heavily Sunday: personnel flexibility.

Multiple-tight-end formations allow the Ravens to emphasize Henry and the running game without surrendering the ability to throw. Baltimore can line up in a heavy formation, force New Orleans to match with bigger personnel and then send Andrews into the middle of the field off play-action.

Jackson completed 7 of 8 play-action passes for 128 yards against Indianapolis.

The threat becomes particularly difficult to diagnose when Doyle starts moving players before the snap.

"The confusion [the offense] is creating with the motions," Jackson said when asked why the new offense generated so many explosive plays. "They do not really know how to pinpoint a guy on our offense. This guy might be the strong suit on this play, and it isn't that. It [can be] any given guy."

Flowers was perhaps the most dangerous piece of that puzzle against Indianapolis, but the concept doesn't disappear with him.

Doyle simply has to use different pieces.

Don't abandon the creativity that made the offense dangerous

This might be the most important part of Baltimore's adjustment.

Losing Flowers could tempt the Ravens to simplify things.

Doyle appears more likely to do the opposite.

The Colts now have provided the rest of the NFL with a game's worth of tape on Baltimore's new offense, meaning the disguise and creativity that worked in Week 1 will have to continue evolving.

"The second that you are stagnant, you are [a] sitting duck," Doyle said. "People can start to game-plan you and attack you."

That philosophy could become particularly important without Flowers.

Baltimore can change personnel groupings, move Bateman and Andrews around the formation, use Wester as a motion player, send Walker vertically and force New Orleans to determine whether Henry or Jackson is carrying the football.

Doyle described the process as finding "the counterpunch" once defenses begin recognizing what Baltimore has already shown.

Minter saw the same thing in the season opener.

"What I really love [is] the scheme and the versatility that it creates," Minter said earlier this week, pointing specifically to Baltimore's ability to move its best players around and manufacture touches.

That versatility now gets its first serious stress test.

Flowers is Baltimore's most dangerous receiver and there is no obvious one-for-one replacement for what he brings to the offense.

Bateman can handle more of the traditional receiving workload. Walker can stretch the field. Wester can provide movement and touches in space. Andrews can attack the middle. Henry can force New Orleans to devote resources to the running game.

And Jackson remains the player defenses ultimately have to solve.

Doyle's challenge Sunday isn't finding the next Zay Flowers.

It's making sure the Saints can't figure out where the football is going without him.