Mark Andrews tried to take the spotlight off himself Tuesday as Ravens training camp opened, but the setup around Baltimore’s passing game makes his role impossible to ignore.
With a new rookie offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle and a receiver-tight end room built mostly on youth, Andrews and Zay Flowers are the only established pass-game veterans this offense can lean on. Andrews, 30, knows the room is thin on proven production. He just didn’t want to frame it that way.
“I don’t think so,” Andrews said when asked if he feels pressure to carry more of the load. "I think that you go through stuff like training camp, you grind together as a team, you kind of mold yourself. You pave a way, and you just gain that trust in each other.
“So, I have total trust in everybody that's out there and everybody in our room, and especially the tight ends, man. So, I don't think you have try to do too much. I'm just going to count on the guy next to me for sure."
That’s the right tone for a veteran trying to lift a young group. But the numbers around him tell a much harsher story.
Andrews and Flowers have combined for 721 catches, 9,080 yards and 70 touchdowns. The other 15 wide receivers and tight ends on the roster have combined for 449 catches, 5,474 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Behind Andrews in the tight end room is Durham Smythe, a blocking tight end with 1,253 yards in 129 career games and three touchdowns. After that, there isn’t much NFL résumé to speak of. Late-round rookies Matthew Hibner and Josh Cuevas are entering their first camp, and opposing defenses are going to key on Andrews and Flowers from the jump.
Andrews said he likes what he sees in the room.
“I just think that we're able to complement each other incredibly well,” Andrews offered in further assessing the TE room, “and push each other. All the good things that you want in a room.”
Still, the reality is that Baltimore needs Andrews to look like a top move tight end again. Last season was the worst of his career, and the decline showed up in the underlying numbers.
He averaged 8.8 yards per reception, failed to post a positive EPA/target for the first time in his career and finished with 6.03 yards per target, well below his 8.50 career mark. His 7.26 air yards per target also stood out as a worrisome sign, down from 10 for his career.
Even when he caught the ball, he wasn’t creating much after the catch, finishing at 2.1 yards after the catch per reception, less than half his career average entering last season.
Andrews pushed back on any suggestion that he’s lost his edge.
“I feel incredibly strong right now,” Andrews explained on Tuesday, “and also just being able to run, come off the ball and fly around, find space, and win my one-on-ones.”
Baltimore is banking on the new offense helping. Doyle’s full install is still ahead, and the system is expected to draw heavily from Sean Payton’s influence.
That could help skill players across the board. But for Andrews, the stakes are simple: he has to play like the $13 million tight end on the roster and do it quickly.
The Ravens’ veteran tight end also acknowledged that this group is still settling in.
"It's a lot of new people," Andrews said, "and just a different energy and a different group ... When you first meet somebody, you have to kind of feel them out.
I think that 'feeler stage' is kind of out of the way. Now, we're able to get down to business."
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