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News & Notes: Mark Andrews Will 'Definitely Have Big Games Catching the Ball'

TE Mark Andrews
TE Mark Andrews

While fantasy football players aren't happy about the fact that Mark Andrews has posted a goose egg the past two weeks, the Ravens aren't sweating it.

Head Coach John Harbaugh made a two-pronged point Monday afternoon following the Ravens' 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills. First, Andrews' impact is being felt as a blocker. Second, Andrews will have games this season when he stuffs the box score as a receiver.

"Mark Andrews is going to definitely have big games here catching the ball," Harbaugh said Monday. "Isaiah [Likely]'s going to have big games catching the ball – all those guys are. We're going to have a big passing game coming up here at some point in time soon."

The Lounge 667

667: Reaction to Ravens' Dominant Win vs. Bills

Team insiders Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing break down the Ravens' 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills, including another dominant performance from Derrick Henry, Justice Hill's big night, and why the defense shut down Josh Allen and the Bills.

Last week's win in Dallas marked just the third game in Andrews' seven-year career that he didn't catch a pass. Now he's been shut out in back-to-back games. Andrews should've had one catch against the Bills, but he dropped it.

The Ravens have not done much through the air the past couple weeks. Top wide receiver Zay Flowers only had two targets against the Bills. Fellow tight end Isaiah Likely has had just three targets the past two weeks. There haven't been many targets to go around with Lamar Jackson attempting just 33 passes over the past two weeks combined.

Andrews did have some pivotal blocks, however. He was key to Derrick Henry's 87-yard touchdown run on the Ravens' first offensive play, and Andrews finished as the Ravens’ highest-graded run blocker against Buffalo by Pro Football Focus.

"Mark had some phenomenal blocks out there – I mean some dominant blocks," Harbaugh said. "So did Isaiah; so did 'Bate' (Rashod Bateman); so did Zay [Flowers]."

While the Ravens have run over their last two opponents, the matchups and way defenses are playing Baltimore will dictate more of an aerial attack and Harbaugh is confident Andrews and the receivers will get their turn to shine.

Harbaugh said he could say something to Andrews about his role, but "he would just look at me like, 'What are you talking to me about? Everything's fine; everything's good.'"

"Guys are competitive – everybody wants to be the difference because they know that they're great players. Mark Andrews is a great player. All those guys are special in their own way, but Mark is a star – there's no doubt about it," Harbaugh said.

"The fact that we're 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's just part of the versatility of the offense, which is really important."

Ravens' Starting Offensive Line Is Week-to-Week

Two weeks ago, Baltimore's offensive line was under heavy criticism, with plenty of questions about who should be starting. Now the same questions exist but it's a good problem to have.

Rookie second-round pick Roger Rosengarten played well in his first career start and full game, and veteran Patrick Mekari adapted well to playing left guard, which was the only position remaining on the line he hadn't had much experience with.

The Ravens were forced to shuffle the line with left guard Andrew Vorhees (ankle) sidelined, but when he's ready to play it poses the question of whether Baltimore should revert to its Week 1 lineup or not.

"As we go forward, we'll see how Andrew's ankle is and all that, but Pat can continue to do it and he's only going to get better if he gets more reps there," Harbaugh said. "Obviously Roger is a guy that's been coming on. He's a high draft pick. He's a guy that we have high expectations for. He didn't do anything in that game to dampen that down at all.

"I think you take it as it comes every single week and try to put the best group out there that you can, with the best next guys playing and have everybody ready so that when need arises, you can put a player in there that's ready to help you win."

Harbaugh was very complimentary of the job Ronnie Stanley is doing at left tackle. Stanley leads all offensive tackles in pass block win rate this season, per ESPN's Seth Walder.

"Ronnie Stanley deserves so much credit," Harbaugh said. "I mean, he's really having a good year, and he's got a lot of football left in him. I expect him to keep improving. I think he's going to keep on the rise."

Arthur Maulet Expected to Return to Practice This Week

Ravens nickel cornerback Arthur Maulet is expected to return to practice this week as he ramps back up from his training camp knee injury.

Maulet is eligible to play in Week 5 against the Bengals, but it remains to be seen how he responds in practice this week.

The Ravens got strong play from Marlon Humphrey at nickel against the Bills, and rookie first-round pick Nate Wiggins played all but three defensive snaps. Still, Maulet was one of Baltimore's training camp standouts before his injury and the scrappy veteran would add more depth and versatility in the secondary.

"We'll see where he's at physically and [where we are] roster-wise and all those kinds of things," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh Regrets Double Timeout

The Ravens gave the Bills a free first down on fourth-and-2 late in the second quarter when Harbaugh took a second straight timeout on defense, which is against the rules.

The confusion came because the Bills were going to take a timeout before the fourth down play, but the Ravens were instead charged with an injury timeout because Humphrey was banged up.

Harbaugh then took a timeout to get the defensive alignment he wanted, not realizing that it was technically consecutive timeouts because he hadn't actually called the first.

"That was not good; that was one I want back," Harbaugh said. "There are a lot of reasons stuff happens in a game, and there's a lot of things that happen, but I want that one back. That was bad. I felt bad about it at the time. I still feel bad about it. I'm going to feel bad about it next year, and 10 years from now, I'm going to hate it still. It was just a bad sequence for us, for me especially."

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