Ravens tight end Mark Andrews 'trending in the right direction'

The Baltimore Ravens did not activate tight end Mark Andrews for Saturday’s Divisional Round matchup against the Houston Texans and luckily, they didn’t need him to win. They took down the Texans 34-10 after an explosive fourth quarter, but they could benefit from Andrews’ return for the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs on Sunday.

The tight end has made progress toward playing this week with John Harbaugh telling reporters on Monday, “If he can play, he’ll play.” NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported on Tuesday that Andrews is “trending in the right direction.”

After suffering what could have been a season-ending injury two months ago, Andrews was a full participant in practice last week after making his return from IR heading into the postseason. Though the tight end is in his 21-day practice window, the Ravens still need to officially activate him for the 53-man roster before kickoff on Sunday for him to play.

Ravens push past Texans without Andrews

The Pro Bowler suffered a fractured fibula and damaged a ligament in his ankle in the Week 11 game against Cincinnati. Andrews went down on a hip-drop tackle, which resulted in his lower leg becoming trapped underneath the weight of the tackler as the defender came crashing in. Getting the star back at any point in the playoffs was a best-case scenario for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense.

Before his injury, Andrews was Jackson’s top target in the red zone. The duo has 11 red zone touchdown connections over the last two seasons, which ranks third in the league.

The former third-round draft pick out of Oklahoma was having a stellar season before injury. He was second on the team in receiving yards behind only wide receiver Zay Flowers who has 564 yards and 10 touchdowns. Andrews also led all tight ends at the time of injury with six touchdowns on 45 receptions with 544 yards.

The Chiefs clinched their conference championship spot opposite the Ravens with a 27-24 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. Buffalo had a chance to tie up the game with a field goal but it went wide right and gave the ball back to Patrick Mahomes with less than two minutes remaining.

Championship Weekend Schedule

Sunday, Jan. 28

AFC Championship Game
(3) Kansas City Chiefs at (1) Baltimore Ravens
Site: Baltimore, Md.
Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: CBS, Paramount+
Point Spread: Baltimore -3.5

NFC Championship Game
(3) Detroit Lions at (1) San Francisco 49ers
Site: San Francisco, Calif.
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Point Spread: San Francisco -7