The Baltimore Ravens will be without tight end Mark Andrews for the foreseeable future after he suffered an ankle injury in the team’s Week 11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Tight end Isaiah Likely will have to be the player who steps up the most in the absence of Andrews, with fellow tight end Charlie Kolar also contributing.
Likely caught four passes for 40 yards in the Baltimore’s Week 12 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, showing off his athleticism and shiftiness in the open field. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken discussed his usage of both Andrews and Likely, saying it’s different in how both players should be used on the field with how they play and their skillsets.
“[Isaiah Likely] is a little bit different than Mark [Andrews]. He probably has a little more twitch. He probably has a little bit, as he develops as a player, to break tackles. He can get to an edge a little bit more than Mark. Mark’s more of a powerful [player]. Get the ball in his hands like a bull, run over people and out muscle you. Where ‘Zay’ [Isaiah Likely] is a little bit more elusive. As he keeps developing his craft and his depths [on his routes] and setting up defenders, he’s going to be hard to handle. It’s just a matter of time. It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when, when we keep working through that and developing that.”