Jason Burgos
While New York Giants fans and players are thrilled John Harbaugh is their new head coach, one of his former stars from the Baltimore Ravens is just as happy to see him go.
After three miserable seasons with Brian Daboll leading the roster, Big Blue fans are excited about the team’s potential with Harbaugh overseeing the Giants. And for good reason. He has a 180-113 career record, led the Ravens to the playoffs in 12 of his 18 seasons, and has a Super Bowl win on his resume (2012).
Due to his impressive success, it would be understandable if some Baltimore players were disappointed to see Harbaugh get fired and have fears about maintaining the standard he set. However, don’t count Zay Flowers among that group because the two-time Pro Bowler blames the coach for the team’s injury problems in 2025.
Zay Flowers suggests John Harbaugh Reason For Baltimore Ravens’ injury woes in 2025
“Full pads all the time,” Flowers told the Fourth & South podcast about practices under Harbaugh. “However many practices in pads you can get (in the NFL), every single one. Week 17, we’re doing one-on-ones, everybody out there, we’re tired, we’re still going… That’s why we had a lot of injuries, because of how we practiced, how we went. The load was heavy.”
The Ravens dealt with a stunning amount of injuries in 2025, including season-ending ailments for Nnamdi Madubuike and Broderick Washington Jr., and top star Lamar Jackson missing multiple weeks. In an era where players compete in 17 games and are getting hurt more than ever, it is concerning that Harbaugh is still conducting hard practices late into the season.
That approach might have worked 10 years ago, but it may not be a good fit for current players. With Harbaugh having so much control in New York, it is unlikely he will be forced to break away from his preferred habits in year one. If the Giants have injury problems in 2026, Flowers may have offered up an early warning for why.
