ExtremeRavens Posted 3 hours ago Posted 3 hours ago There were giant black garbage bags and cardboard boxes. Bottles of wine and stacks of blown up cardboard photos. On Lamar Jackson’s locker hung his huge chain, a blown-up version of the logo for his clothing brand. On Derrick Henry’s locker hung another one, with a crown and the word “King.” There was, however, no Mark Andrews. A day after the Ravens tight end wasn’t made available to the media following Baltimore’s 27-25 divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium — where he dropped a would-be game-tying 2-point conversion inside the final two minutes and had a costly fumble earlier in the fourth quarter — did not appear as players cleaned out their lockers at the team’s practice facility in Owings Mills on Monday afternoon. Instead, those who did make their way through the hour-plus media availability were left to speak for him. “Mark’s a complete competitor,” All-Pro fullback Patrick Ricard said. “He’ll be fine. He’s the heart and soul of this team. “He’s the guy to go to in big situations. I know he’s going to be hurting for a while. But he’ll continue to do great things. … Time will heal all things.” The loss no doubt stings for the franchise’s record holder for career touchdowns (51), former All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowl selection and Lamar Jackson’s bonafide security blanket. His fumble midway through the fourth quarter on Sunday night as Baltimore crossed into Buffalo territory and was driving toward a potential go-ahead touchdown was recovered by Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard and led to an eventual field goal to extend Buffalo’s lead to eight points. Then, after connecting with tight end Isaiah Likely for a 24-yard touchdown to culminate an eight-play, 88-yard drive with 1:33 remaining, the quarterback lofted a short pass to Andrews in the front right corner of the end zone on a 2-point try, but the seven-year veteran bobbled then dropped it as he fell backward across the goal line. After the game, Andrews got dressed and left the locker room while most of the media was still in the postgame news conference for coach John Harbaugh, Jackson, safety Kyle Hamilton and linebacker Roquan Smith and was not made available to reporters before departing. He also wasn’t the only one missing on Monday, of course. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews caught five passes for 61 yards against the Bills, but his late-game miscues attracted more attention. (Timothy T Ludwig/Getty) Jackson, Hamilton and linebacker Kyle Van Noy were among the more notable absences. Running back Derrick Henry was in the room, though he tried to be inconspicuous with a fleece pullover that covered most of his face as he emptied his locker. Injured receiver Zay Flowers was also on hand. Flowers, who was inactive for the Bills game with a sprained knee that he suffered in the regular season finale, said it was “killing him” not to be on the field on Sunday. It also marked a difficult ending for a second straight year for Andrews. Last season, he suffered an ankle injury on a hip-drop tackle that caused him to miss the final six games of the regular season and a divisional round game against the Houston Texans. He returned for the AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs at M&T Bank Stadium but had just two catches for 15 yards on 18 snaps in the 17-10 loss. Sunday night’s loss to the Bills, however, will likely sting even more for Andrews. READER POLL: How would you grade the Ravens’ season? “Once he’ll get away from here, spend time with his family, his girlfriend and he’s only gonna grow from this and be even better, which is scary because he’s already very good,” Ricard said. “He’s had a great year. You can’t let one game or one play decide your whole career. We know this won’t define him or shape him.” Andrews, 29, finished the year with 55 catches for 673 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s also slated to enter the final year of a four-year, $56 million contract he signed in 2021 that currently makes him the fifth-highest-paid tight end in the league. How the Ravens address his future remains to be seen, given several priorities, including Pro Bowl safety Hamilton and Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum being extension-eligible before next season. These are just some of the roster decisions general manager Eric DeCosta is juggling with 16 players unrestricted free agents and another four who are restricted. Ricard and left guard Patrick Mekari along with left tackle Ronnie Stanley are among the former who are due to be free agents this offseason. “This is one of the most fun I’ve had playing football,” Ricard said of playing alongside Jackson and Henry. “This is the best offense I’ve ever been a part of. I got to play with the best quarterback in football, the best running back in football. “I wanna stay here. I wanna be here. I wanna retire here. But we’ll see what happens when the time comes.” Mekari said he has yet to think about his future with the loss to the Bills still smarting. “Yeah, still sucks,” he said. “Have to move on but it’s OK that it stings for a little bit. That’s part of it.” For how long? “A day at a time,” Mekari continued. “Hopefully quick. “It’s tough to make it this far and not get to the Super Bowl.” Then he eyed the five bottles of wine at his locker that were ready to be packed — or drank. “Maybe a couple of bottles of that would be good,” he said. “Yeah, I don’t know. “Throughout the year there was a lot of ups, a lot of downs. Right now it’s easy to focus on the negatives because we didn’t get what we wanted. But as the days go on you look back you say we did a lot of good stuff. It’s not to where we want to be and hoping for a better outcome next year, but we did some special things this year and we’ll remember that.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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