ExtremeRavens Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 The Ravens still don’t know if tight end Mark Andrews and cornerback Marlon Humphrey will return from injuries for Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs, coach John Harbaugh said on Monday. Andrews, who injured his ankle in the Ravens’ Nov. 16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, was a full practice participant on Wednesday and Thursday last week before he and the team decided he was not quite ready to contribute in the divisional round Saturday against the Houston Texans. “We’ll just see how it goes,” Harbaugh said. “We’re looking forward to it. He practiced last week, and I’m sure he’ll practice again this week. If he’s ready to play, he’ll play.” Isaiah Likely has filled in superbly, catching six touchdown passes in the team’s past six games, including one against Houston. Humphrey limped off with a calf injury in the team’s New Year’s Eve victory over the Miami Dolphins and did not practice last week. “I promise you if Marlon can go, he will. If he can practice, he will,” Harbaugh said. “You’ll see it as the week goes on, based on how much he practices. You’ll probably get a pretty good feel for it. If he can be out there, he’ll for sure be out there. I’m very hopeful, but we’ll have to see what happens.” Without Humphrey, the Ravens kept Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud from reaching the red zone or scoring an offensive touchdown. Ronald Darby will likely start across from Brandon Stephens at cornerback if the three-time Pro Bowl selection is unavailable. Harbaugh said his top-seeded team is eager to host the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who will appear in their sixth straight AFC championship game. “It’s a huge challenge,” he said. “They’ve been here before. It’s our first time with this team and these guys, but we’re up for the challenge, and we’re excited.” The Ravens have not made it this far since they won the Super Bowl 11 years ago, and kicker Justin Tucker is the only player remaining from that team. They have never hosted a conference championship game, and this will be the first one in Baltimore since the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders in 1971. They’ll have to devise a game plan to limit Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has won two Super Bowls and two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards. “He extends plays, buys time to run sometimes, buys time to throw,” Harbaugh said. “He’s unique, plays his own brand of football. We’ll just have to study him and do our best to keep him under wraps.” They’ll also have to deal with running back Isaiah Pacheco, whom Harbaugh called “as physical a runner as there is in this league,” and with an aggressive defense coordinated by Steve Spagnuolo, who worked on Harbaugh’s staff in 2013 and 2014. The Ravens and this year’s MVP favorite, Lamar Jackson, beat Mahomes and the Chiefs the last time they played in 2021 but had lost three straight to Kansas City before that. Harbaugh said those matchups and his past experiences in AFC championship games won’t have much bearing on Sunday’s contest. “It’s a new time. It’s this team against that team at this time,” he said. “That’s what we’re focused on. We’ve just got to keep it simple and get ready to play the game.” AFC championship game Chiefs at Ravens Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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