OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh expressed confidence Monday that slumping Mark Andrews will break out once the team throws the ball more regularly.
Andrews, a three-time Pro Bowl tight end, has failed to catch a pass in back-to-back games for the first time in his seven-year career. In Sunday night’s 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills, a wide-open Andrews dropped his only targeted pass on what would have been a 15-yard gain.
“Mark Andrews is going to definitely have big games here catching the ball,” Harbaugh said Monday. “We’re going to have a big passing game coming up here at some point in time soon. It’s hard to predict when it’s going to be because the games go where they go, and the ball goes where it goes and it’s just a competitive deal.
“But my point is that the reason we ran the ball so well is because everybody was bought into the play that was being run in that moment and executed so well. Mark had some phenomenal blocks out there, I mean some dominant blocks.”
Andrews, 29, has been Lamar Jackson‘s favorite target over the previous six seasons. But, though four games, Andrews has six catches for 65 yards receiving, which ranks 30th among NFL tight ends and sixth on the Ravens.
Last week, Andrews emphasized patience, saying “My time will come.”
The primary reason for Andrews’ drop in productivity has been Baltimore going to a run heavy offense lately with running back Derrick Henry. The Ravens have thrown the ball 34 times the last two weeks, which ranks only behind the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions over that span.
“I could probably try to talk to Mark to make sure everything’s okay, but he would just look at me, ‘What are you talking to me about? Everything’s fine, everything’s good,'” Harbaugh said. “Mark Andrews is a great player … Mark is a star. I mean there’s no doubt about it. The fact that we were doing well on offense and as a team and that part hasn’t been expressing itself in the last two weeks gets me kind of excited because that’s another weapon that we have that’s going to happen.”
It could be another week before Andrews gets back on track because the Ravens next face the Cincinnati Bengals, who rank 25th against the run (145.5) and 10th against the pass (181.3).
