ExtremeRavens Posted December 17, 2024 Posted December 17, 2024 When Mark Andrews caught his Ravens record 48th career touchdown pass through a cluster of New York Giants defenders on Sunday, notice his teammates celebrated from every other corner of the field. Isaiah Likely’s crossing route took him toward the left sideline, where he threw his arms up. Tylan Wallace did the same from that corner of the end zone. Quarterback Lamar Jackson made sure to meet his tight end in the air for a chest bump. These were business decisions. “Nobody’s ever trying to be the first one [there] when Mark scores after the spike because that’s the strongest head butt that’s gonna happen the whole game,” Likely laughed. “You’ll see everybody trying to see who’s gonna be over there first, then you’ll see everybody try to get the little side head butt in.” That’s because Andrews’ celebratory head butts are vicious, emblematic of the football alter ego of the new all-time Ravens’ touchdown leader, passing running back Jamal Lewis on Sunday to become the only tight end in NFL history atop a franchise’s total touchdowns leaderboard. But the 29-year-old’s reputation for thumping his forehead to greet teammates like an ox — which wideout Nelson Agholor loves from afar and Likely caps after two — is a testament to his longstanding success through a lens illustrating the rugged veteran who Agholor dubbed, “a reflection of the Raven way.” Baltimore drafted Andrews in the third round of the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma. He caught his first two touchdown passes from Joe Flacco before fellow rookie Lamar Jackson was given the keys to the offense. The two quickly became a dynamo pair. Andrews has been Jackson’s most reliable target through years of a revolving wide receiver group. But this season began with doubts that maybe the partnership had reached its final stage. Andrews’ usage rate in the pass game tanked to the tune of six catches in four weeks. He was scoreless until Week 6. This all coming after a severe ankle injury sidelined him much of last season and a car accident kept him out for over two weeks of training camp. “He got injured last year, came back, [and] people were talking about this and that. ‘We need to trade Mark, this and that,’” Jackson said. “I didn’t forget that. And I know he didn’t forget that.” Since then, he’s been back to his copper-bottomed, head-butting self. With Sunday’s romp, Andrews is up to 514 yards on 45 catches. His eight touchdowns are tied with San Francisco’s George Kittle for a league-high among tight ends and two shy of tying his single-season career high (10 in 2019). READER POLL: Who will win Saturday’s AFC North showdown between Ravens and Steelers? Last week, Jackson tried to think back on a favorite Andrews moment. His face crinkled. “There’s a lot,” he said, thinking back on more than half a decade together. He and Andrews came into the league at the same time. He’s responsible for the lion’s share of the record mark. The memory he landed on has two connecting pieces. First was Week 12 in 2018. The Ravens were hosting the Oakland Raiders. In the second quarter, pinned inside their own 20-yard line, Jackson faked the handoff and scanned upfield. To his right was a streaking Andrews. Jackson found him with only green grass ahead. “It’s a foot race!” the announcer shouted. But Andrews lost that foot race, dragged down five yards shy of the end zone. He walked right up to Jackson on the sideline, as the quarterback recalled, and said, “That’s not happening anymore.” Four weeks later, they’re in Los Angeles playing the Chargers. Andrews burst off the line of scrimmage into a cross route. He knifed through the middle of the defense and caught a lob over the linebackers, shed a tackle and, as his quarterback remembers, “just hauled tail” for the duo’s first touchdown connection. “After that,” Jackson said, “it was like, ‘Yes, that’s my guy right there. That’s my guy.’” Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews (89) celebrates with quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) “He can go up and get the ball [and] track the ball well like a receiver,” Jackson continued. “He’s a big body receiver. I feel like anybody [who] guards him, I have a shot at having a successful catch with Mark. Him just being who he is since we first stepped foot in the league, he’s just made my job a lot easier. I always say that.” That relationship between quarterback and tight end, in coach John Harbaugh’s words, is “institutionalized,” and “proven now with the record.” The coach who has been there for every bit of the duo’s interwoven ascension grinned, revealing, “they make route adjustments that are not always in the playbook. … A lot of those touchdown passes are those two guys just having that chemistry.” Mention Andrews to anyone around the Ravens’ Owings Mills facility and you’ll hear some variation of the same 10-letter word: Competitor. Harbaugh said the thing he loves most about Andrews is how he’s all ball, all the time. “He probably dreams about football,” Harbaugh said. Andrews is the “pinnacle” of a competitor, according to All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, who sits next to the veteran in meetings trying to mimic his detail-oriented approach. Same goes for Likely, who has leaned on his vet since he got in the league. Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken has been coaching football for over three decades and firmly called Andrews, “one of the top competitors I’ve ever been around.” It’s helped Andrews reach the Pro Bowl three times (2019, 2021 and 2022). He made first-team All-Pro in 2021. His other Ravens record was from a 2021 outburst, logging the most single-season receptions (107) and yards (1,361) of any position. And in February of this year, while on a flight home to Arizona, he helped save a woman’s life. A pretty well-rounded resume; the least bit surprising to teammates because of his attention to detail. “Mark doesn’t only know the tight end position on offense, he knows what everybody’s supposed to be doing,” Likely said. “All you see is post-snap, what he’s doing mid-route, mid-block. But to see it from his eyes before the ball even snaps, that’s what I admire about Mark. “He knows everything that’s going on before the play and that’s when he’s able to show he’s Mark Andrews.” And that’s when the head butting starts. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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