Ravens tight end Mark Andrews returned to practice Friday nearly two months after he suffered severe ankle and leg injuries, a possible shot in the arm for the offense of a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
The Ravens designated Andrews to return, opening up his practice window for a possible comeback. He opened practice with his usual routine of working out by himself and catching passes.
Andrews, one of quarterback Lamar Jackson’s favorite targets, went down on the first drive of the team’s Week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The 28-year-old suffered ligament damage in his ankle and a reported cracked fibula after he was brought down on a hip-drop tackle by Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.
Coach John Harbaugh said at the time there as an “outside chance” Andrews could return for the playoffs because the damage to his ankle “wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.”
Before the injury Andrews had 45 catches for 544 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games. Even though Andrews missed the last six games of the regular season, his six touchdown receptions rank first one the team and his 544 yards rank third.
After earning the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the Ravens are on a bye during the start of the NFL’s postseason. They’ll learn which opponent will come to M&T Bank Stadium following this weekend’s wild card round.
In the wake of the injury to Andrews and other players, such as Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he would like to see the hip-drop tackle banned.
“I think we all should work to get that out of the game,” Goodell said at the league’s owners meetings in December. “You see it escalated the number of times it occurred this season. The injuries could be very devastating. We saw that also. It’s not just happening at the NFL level; it’s happening at other levels. It’s something that we have to work very hard to get that removed this spring.”
This story will be updated.
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