OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens tight finish Mark Andrews is happy that the NFL has banned the swivel hip-drop sort out, 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 consider was a hip-drop sort out. One of these play happens when a defender wraps up a ball service and rotates his hips, dropping onto the ball service’s legs in the course of the sort out.
Andrews underwent surgical procedure after struggling a fractured fibula and ligament injury.
“Taking that sort out out of the sport is just not a nasty factor,” Andrews stated after Tuesday’s offseason follow. “I believe defenses can discover a strategy to get round that.”
On March 25, NFL homeowners voted unanimously on the annual league assembly to take away the hip-drop sort out from the sport.
The violation will lead to 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 usually results in warning letters and fines within the week after a recreation slightly than flags throughout play.
“I am at all times an advocate for making the sport safer,” Andrews stated. “You take a look at the final 5 years, there’s been a whole lot of huge accidents with that. So simply bringing the attention to that sort of sort out, I believe is sweet.”
When Andrews injured his left ankle, Ravens officers initially feared it was a season-ending harm. 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 100% in that recreation, however I labored actually laborious to get to that time,” Andrews stated. “It set me up for a extremely good offseason to work laborious. 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.
