The Baltimore Ravens are in free fall. After letting two straight games slip through their grasp in back-to-back weeks against division rivals in the Browns and Bengals, the Ravens got dealt their most serious and perhaps fatal blow of the season against the Bills.
MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson made his long-awaited return only to injure his thumb on the first pass of the game, an injury that will land Jackson on the IR list and possibly officially sink the Ravens’ season.
The past few weeks have been a time for soul-searching and finding out what this Ravens team is made of in tough times. Head coach Jesse Minter faces a daunting task in his first year. In these situations, head coaches usually look to veteran players for leadership, but what happens when some of those veteran leaders are also part of the problem?
Losing A Step
Mark Andrews and Marlon Humphrey are two of the Ravens’ longest-tenured players. For nearly a decade, the two have been pillars of the offense and defense; however, over the last two seasons, both have appeared to take a step back in their play.
One man who feels that way is Shannon Sharpe, the NFL Hall of Famer who won a Super Bowl with the Ravens at tight end. On his “Nightcap” show with Chad Johnson and Joe Johnson, Sharpe offered pointed, biting critiques of both Andrews and Humphrey.
“Mark Andrews can’t move anymore, he can’t run,” Sharpe said. “He’s standing on the sideline, and the ball goes right through his hands. Marlon Humphrey gets worse by the week. Every game, when I think he can’t get any lower, I say this is as low as he can get; I’ll be damned if he doesn’t make me a liar and say I can get lower than that… He don’t want to tackle anymore, he can’t run, he can’t change directions. So, I recommended that he move to safety. They’re gonna recommend he either goes to safety or you’re going home.”
The blow of losing Lamar Jackson will ripple through the season for the Ravens, but veterans Andrews and Humphrey aren’t ready to give up yet.
Moving Forward
The Ravens face an uphill climb trying to crawl out of the basement in the AFC North, but veterans on the team aren’t ready to call it quits.
Mark Andrews is the greatest tight end in Ravens history, but he’s been in decline over the last few years. Now having to catch passes from third-string quarterback Joe Fagnano only adds to the difficulty. However, with a game on Thursday, Andrews knows the Ravens don’t have time to tend to their wounds, as he expressed in the Ravens post-game press conference.
“Obviously, it’s a tough break, and it’s sad, and a lot of unfortunate things went our way, but we [have] a game in four days, so we [have] to be able to bounce back, get our bodies right, recover the best [that] we can and be able to come back and fight through this adversity, fight through this battle,” Andrews said. “We’re getting tested, and we [have] to respond.”
Humphrey also echoed similar sentiments about the Ravens needing to push forward despite Jackson’s injury, and the defense will have to pick up more slack.
“Of course. I think we’ve still got – we obviously don’t play offense,” Humphrey said. “But defensively, I think we still have a good group. The conversations have already started about what we can do to be better, and I look forward to seeing how we respond.”
The Ravens have a quick turnaround as they play on Thursday night against the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars.
Shannon Sharpe Says Two Ravens Veterans Can’t Move Or Run Anymore