Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters today that star TE Mark Andrews has an “outside chance” to return to play for Baltimore this season. A clip from the press conference was uploaded to Twitter.
“It wasn’t as bad as initially feared right after the game…it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. It’s a little cleaner than we thought, based on the MRI,” Harbaugh said. “There might be an outside chance he could get back at some point in time.”
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport provided some clarity that Baltimore would have to make a deep playoff run for Andrews to be healthy enough to return, but the fact that he could be back at all is good news for the Ravens. Andrews is an elite tight end who suffered a cracked fibula in the team’s Week 11 Thursday Night Football win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
On the season, he had 45 receptions for 544 yards and six touchdowns. He’s the main target for QB Lamar Jackson and he’ll likely be replaced in the starting lineup by second-year TE Isaiah Likely. The Oklahoma product is a key piece to the offense for Baltimore, which has experienced a resurgence under offensive coordinator Todd Monken. He was second on the team in yards and receptions, behind rookie WR Zay Flowers, and led the team with six scores.
Likely, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Coastal Carolina, has nine receptions for 89 yards this season. Last year, he had 36 grabs for 373 yards and three touchdowns.
Andrews was injured on a hip-drop tackle, a play that has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks. There’s a push for the NFL to ban the play, which would make life harder for defenders trying to bring a player down but could decrease the amount of lower-body injuries suffered. Andrews’ left leg was bent and trapped on the play due to the tackle.
It would obviously be great news for the Ravens if Andrews could return, but it does sound like they’ll need to make a run in the postseason for that to occur. Obviously, that would mean that Pittsburgh’s Week 18 matchup with Baltimore would not feature Andrews unless he returns much quicker than expected.
