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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Employees Author
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens tight finish Mark Andrews is happy that the NFL has banned the swivel hip-drop deal with, which sidelined him for 2 months final season.
In Baltimore’s 34-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 16, Andrews was pulled to the bottom by linebacker Logan Wilson on what the Ravens imagine was a hip-drop deal with. Such a play happens when a defender wraps up a ball provider and rotates his hips, dropping onto the ball provider’s legs through the deal with.
Andrews underwent surgical procedure after struggling a fractured fibula and ligament harm.
“Taking that deal with out of the sport will not be a foul factor,” Andrews stated after Tuesday’s offseason follow. “I feel defenses can discover a technique to get round that.”
On March 25, NFL house owners voted unanimously on the annual league assembly to take away the hip-drop deal with from the sport.
The violation will end in a 15-yard penalty if flagged in video games, however Troy Vincent, the NFL’s govt vice chairman of soccer operations, strongly implied that it’s prone to be enforced equally to the “use of helmet” rule, which generally results in warning letters and fines within the week after a sport moderately than flags throughout play.
“I am at all times an advocate for making the sport safer,” Andrews stated. “You have a look at the final 5 years, there’s been plenty of large accidents with that. So simply bringing the attention to that sort of deal with, I feel is nice.”
When Andrews injured his left ankle, Ravens officers initially feared it was a season-ending damage. However Andrews returned to play within the Ravens’ 17-10 loss to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs within the AFC Championship Recreation, the place he caught two passes for 15 yards.
“Clearly, I wasn’t full one hundred pc in that sport, however I labored actually onerous to get to that time,” Andrews stated. “It set me up for a very good offseason to work onerous. I have been operating a ton of routes, with my household, understanding and I really feel actually good proper now. I really feel quick and explosive.”
Andrews, 28, is a three-time Professional Bowl tight finish who has totaled 381 receptions for 4,857 yards and 40 touchdowns. Final season was the primary time since 2020 that Andrews did not lead Baltimore in receiving yards however he nonetheless topped the Ravens with six landing catches regardless of enjoying solely 10 video games.