Salty Mark Andrews slams his helmet, breaks it and bolts out of practice
After a fight broke out on Tuesday in the first session of joint practices between the Ravens and the Washington Commanders, Baltimore's tight end Mark Andrews wanted to join the party and body slammed a defender graciously.
Turned out that was only the start of a fierce battle between Commies and Ravens, and even more just a glimpse of a heated-up Andrews as he decided to bolt out of camp early on Wednesday, per reports.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reported the news from The Castle while attending practice live on location.
Ravens TE Mark Andrews seemed to be frustrated. After a Jackson TD pass to Flowers, Andrews spiked his helmet hard enough where it looked like part of it broke. He then took a knee off to the side and eventually walked back inside by himself just as practice was ending.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) August 16, 2023
The beat reporter wrote that Andrews "seemed to be frustrated" following a completed pass for a touchdown between Lamar Jackson and rookie Zay Flowers. According to Zrebiec, Andrews spiked his helmet "hard enough where it looked like part of it broke."
Kevin McNelis of Russell Street Report echoed similar information in his practice report, corroborating the veracity of the story.
"From the start of [1-on-1 drills], Mark Andrews looked like he’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed," McNelis wrote. Andrews "looked particularly bristly today," according to McNelis, and "After a few stare-downs and some jawing back and forth, it came to a head during team drills on a passing touchdown to Zay Flowers."
It's now back-to-back days of Mark Andrews getting a little bit hotter than you'd like, and it's just a couple of practices in the middle of the summer.
Of course, if this turns into a productive performance on the field when real football arrives, that's cool. If things get a little bit out of hand, though, and tensions grow between Andrews and his teammates, mostly QB Lamar Jackson, then the problem would be much bigger.
The Ravens have a ton of offensive weapons at their disposal these days, but Andrews should stay on the field for as many reps as they can, let alone forcing his way out with silly actions like Wednesday's as he's still the no. 1 player of choice by Jackson on most plays in Baltimore's playbook.