Flowers, who is the first wide receiver in Ravens history to be selected to the Pro Bowl, suffered a knee injury during a Week 18 win over the Cleveland Browns that sidelined Baltimore’s most dangerous receiving threat for the team’s two playoff games.

During an interview with the media Monday, Flowers said it “took a little toll” on him to be inactive while his teammates attempted to reach the AFC Championship game in back-to-back years.

“It was killing me for sure,” Flowers told reporters. “I want to be out there every game, I want to go through everything they go through. So not being out there, it took a little toll on me. Just to have to watch that and not be able to participate and do what I wanted to do to help the team.”

When asked if he expected to be back for a possible game against Kansas City this Sunday had the Ravens advanced, Flowers said, “Yeah, I feel like I would’ve had a better chance to play.”

Flowers’ consistent hands would have been a big help to the Baltimore passing attack that struggled with drops in the snowy Buffalo conditions, most notably, tight end Mark Andrews’ crucial drop on a two-point conversion at the end of the game. Flowers had only five drops all season on 112 targets.

Before his injury, Flowers produced a career-best season with Baltimore, catching 74 passes for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns. In his absence Sunday, the Ravens attempted to spread the ball around to various targets, with tight end Isaiah Likely and wide receiver Rashod Bateman each scoring touchdowns in the loss. Tight end Mark Andrews led the Ravens with five catches, but had a devastating fumble in Bills territory with 8:41 left in the game.

The game continued the trend of disappointing playoff losses for the Ravens, as Baltimore fell to 3-6 in the postseason since 2018. The team hasn’t won more than one playoff game in a season since 2012.

When asked what the team needed to improve on moving into next season, Flowers was blunt with his answer.

“Turnovers,” he said. “We have to stop the turnovers. We have to get better at that in the playoffs.”