Since Week 11 of the NFL’s regular season, the Baltimore Ravens have been without one of their biggest stars.
Mark Andrews suffered an ankle injury against the Cincinnati Bengals that required surgery, sending him to IR and raising questions about whether he’d be ready to return for a playoff run.
Ahead of the AFC Championship Game, the Ravens got their answer on when Andrews would be ready.
On January 26, the Ravens announced that they were activating Andrews from IR.
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Not only will Andrews be active for the game, but he doesn’t even carry an injury designation on the team’s final injury report ahead of the matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
A Dangerous Duo at Tight End
Losing their former All-Pro tight end for the closing stretch of the season and the first game of the playoffs was obviously far from ideal, but it gave somebody else a chance to shine at tight end.
Isaiah Likely has done just that during Andrews’ absence.
In the seven games since Andrews’ injury, Likely posted a solid 23 catches for 356 yards and 6 touchdowns.
That will afford the Ravens a luxury that many teams in the league have.
It gives them two dangerous tight ends for opponents to deal with.
With an offense that is already a unique challenge for opponents thanks to their QB’s skillset, being able to attack out of two tight end sets with two major receiving threats just gives them another wrinkle teams have to worry about.
More importantly for the upcoming game, it will also allow them to ease Andrews back in.
The team knows that they can depend on Likely, so they won’t need Andrews to put up All-Pro numbers in his first game back in the lineup.
It will be very interesting to see how the Ravens utilize this duo next season after seeing what Likely can do with regular snaps.
The Other Star Ravens are Waiting for
While the news of an Andrews return is huge for the Ravens, the team is still waiting to find out if one of their other stars is going to be ready to go for the AFC title game.
Marlon Humphrey hasn’t played since the team’s Week 17 win over the Miami Dolphins because of a calf injury.
The injury was the latest for Humphrey in a season where he had already missed extended time on two other occasions, limiting him to just 10 games in 2023.
However, Humphrey has been as good as ever when healthy.
During the regular season, opposing quarterbacks only threw his way 45 times in his 10 games and he held those QBs to just 21 completions for 275 yards and a touchdown.
With the reigning MVP and the defending champs coming to town, getting Humphrey back would be a big boost for the Ravens.
Patrick Mahomes has had limited options to throw to throughout the season and if Humphrey could neutralize Rashee Rice, it will make the Chiefs’ task of decoding the NFL’s top defense even more difficult.
When asked about Humphrey during the team’s January 26 press conference, Harbaugh couldn’t commit to the star corner playing on Sunday, but he said he was confident about Humphrey, who returned to practice earlier in the week.
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With Andrews now set to return, the team would be getting back to 100% just in time if Humphrey is also ready to go for the AFC Championship Game.
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Ravens Set to Get Huge Return Ahead of AFC Championship Game