Kembali
Boos poured down on the Baltimore Ravens on a rainy Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium, and Mark Andrews didn’t hold it against the crowd.
The Jacksonville Jaguars cruised to a 33-10 win as undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano, making his first career start with Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley sidelined, went 10-of-18 for 60 yards with two interceptions. Baltimore (4-5) has lost four straight, and Andrews answered the frustration with a call for the locker room to stick together.
Trailing 20-3 in the third quarter, the Ravens caught a break when Teddye Buchanan recovered a fumble by Jacksonville’s Travis Hunter, giving Baltimore the ball at midfield. Four plays and 9 yards later, the offense turned it over on downs, and boos rolled down from the stands.
Andrews spoke about those boos after the game. “They have every right to boo or do whatever they want to do. Obviously, us in here, we have to stay together, be on one accord and just keep on relying on each other.”
“You have to be there for your brother, and that’s what we’re going to do is keep it in-house and continue to fight for one another. We’ll see how this thing shakes out, but I believe that we have a bunch of fighters,” he added.
Andrews’ two catches for 19 yards made him Baltimore’s leading receiver on a night the Ravens finished with 55 net passing yards as a team, their fewest in nine years. Pro Football Network’s NFL TE Impact Grade has Andrews at 69.9 through Week 9, tied for 29th of 43 tight ends.
Earlier, Andrews himself had drawn a mixed welcome before kickoff. Cheers and boos blended together as he ran out last among the offense.
Notably, Thursday’s game came without Jackson, the two-time MVP. A right thumb injury on his first snap in Sunday’s 36-10 loss at Buffalo sent him to injured reserve ahead of the Jaguars game.
“Lamar is incredible. He is obviously going to be sorely missed,” Andrews said after the Week 9 loss. “We deserve to put out a better product because we have such talented players and coaches and guys that really want to get this thing going.”
Offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley made a similar point about what this roster should be capable of: “There’s no excuses. We’re all professionals here. We have a job to do. We have the best running back in the NFL. We have a formidable offensive line. We have formidable players. I expect us to perform.”
Head coach Jesse Minter wouldn’t let the missing players serve as cover either. “I just told them there’s no excuses, there’s no whatever, ‘We don’t have this guy; we don’t have that guy,'” he said. “The results are not acceptable for us and what we’re after.”
Thursday’s defeat came after a 35-13 home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and the rout at Buffalo. Never before in the franchise’s 31-year history had Baltimore dropped three games in a row by 20 points or more. Baltimore has also been held under 14 points in four consecutive games, a team record.
Jackson is set to miss at least the next three games, so the Ravens will be without him when they face that home crowd again against the 0-7 Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 16, though we could very well see Jacoby Brissett make his Ravens debut.