In Week 2, Mark Andrews came close to a touchdown catch, but the ball was knocked out before he could secure it. Although John Harbaugh had the opportunity to challenge the play, he chose not to. And it may have done well for the Ravens. After the game, he spoke about the circumstances as well as the reason behind his decision.

When asked about the near touchdown catch of Mark Andrews, Harbaugh admitted that he was “close” to challenging the play. “That was a hard ‘don’t challenge’ from my guys upstairs because they had a long time to look at that,” he told Luke Jones. However, the coach decided otherwise after getting a word from the replay officials. There was no football act or third act, so a challenge would have cost a timeout, and he realized that it wasn’t worth it.

“They looked at it, and they made their decision already from upstairs, in New York. So that wasn’t going to get overturned…So that’s what was explained to me at the time, that we were going to lose the challenge if we did it,” Harbaugh explained. The coach compared the situation with DeAndre Hopkins’ play.

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“That was the same thing on the one with ‘Hop’ [DeAndre Hopkins], you could see the knee down, but did he have control when the knee was down?” he questioned. He added that Hopkins confirmed he didn’t have control of the ball until reaching the end zone. After reviewing the play, the officials decided to overturn it. So, it was understandable that the coach chose not to challenge, especially given the risk of the attempt failing.

Harbaugh explained that replay assist has changed how he approaches challenges since the league often steps in before he even throws the red flag. As for the offense, he made it clear that tight ends like Andrews and Kolar will get their chances, even if the early numbers don’t show it. Right now, the ball is simply going where Lamar Jackson‘s reads take it, but Harbaugh still expects those tight ends to play a major role as the season unfolds. And after Week 1, it was clear that the coach needed to tread carefully to avoid mistakes. The same can be said for the franchise’s all-time leader in touchdown catches, Andrews, who made a costly mistake last season at the playoffs.

He had dropped a game-tying two-point conversion in the final minutes in the 27-25 playoff loss to the Bills. While the tight end wasn’t entirely at fault for the loss, he is determined to redeem himself this season. But despite the efforts and the right enthusiasm, he hasn’t been able to do it.

Mark Andrews was named one of the Worst offensive performers in the Week 2 game

The tight end has quite clearly gained traction in the Ravens’ 41-17 win over the Browns, but it is for the wrong reason. Glenn Erby recently shared the worst performers from the Week 2 game against the Browns based on the lowest grades. Unfortunately, Andrews made the list with a 49.5 PFF grade. He had one reception for two yards. Ronnie Stanley (50.8) and Rashod Bateman (56.0) were also named on the list.

Well, for the Oklahoma product, this is not a promising start, especially considering he is in the final year of his contract (four-year, $56 million). When asked whether he is looking to be a free agent next season in an interview back in July, Andrews explained that he isn’t thinking about the future yet and is more focused on the present. “I’m thankful to be here this year, to be able to compete for this organization, compete for this city. It means so much to me. I just want people to know that. It really means everything to me….I’m excited about the game,” he declared.

So, Andrews is determined to prove himself and have his best season. As of now, he is not concerned about what the future holds. And that determination could benefit the Ravens, even if it didn’t fully materialize in Week 2. But the question is, when will the veteran TE prove his worth?