On Sunday night, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked about tight end Mark Andrews. So was quarterback Lamar Jackson. And running back Derrick Henry. And tight end Isaiah Likely. And inside linebacker Roquan Smith.

On Monday afternoon, Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard was asked about Andrews, too. So was wide receiver Zay Flowers. The three-time Pro Bowl selection had been at the center of the Ravens’ most consequential play in their 27-25 divisional-round loss Sunday night to the Buffalo Bills. Andrews had had the ball in his hands on a would-be game-tying 2-point conversion late in the fourth quarter, and then he dropped it.

Andrews was not available to talk to reporters after Sunday’s game in Orchard Park, New York, and he did not appear in the locker room Monday during the team’s hourlong clean-out period open to reporters in Owings Mills. That left Andrews’ teammates to assess his mental state.

“Mark’s a complete competitor,” Ricard said. “He’ll be fine. We all know he’ll be fine. He’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s won big games for us. He’ll continue to win big games here. He’s the guy to go to in big situations. Right now, he’s going to be hurting for a while. But yeah, he’s going to continue to do great things. In my eyes, he’s going to be a future Hall of Famer, just an all-time Raven. But yeah, I think, again, time will heal all things.”

Andrews’ performance Sunday was out of character, as so many of the Ravens’ playoff performances have been in recent years. Over the regular season, he’d dropped just two passes in 17 games, according to TruMedia. He’d fumbled once. Then he had two drops and a fumble in a three-quarter span inside Highmark Stadium.

In the second quarter, Andrews couldn’t secure a pass from Jackson in field goal range. On the next play, a second-and-10, an inaccurate shotgun snap to Jackson spoiled a run-pass-option play and led to a fumble that Bills defensive end Von Miller returned into Ravens territory.

Midway through the fourth quarter, with the Ravens looking for a potential go-ahead touchdown, Andrews caught a pass over the middle and tried to reverse field, only to have the ball poked loose and recovered by linebacker Terrel Bernard. A Bills field goal on the ensuing drive pushed the Ravens’ deficit to 27-19.

On the game’s decisive drive, Andrews added a 19-yard catch as the Ravens marched downfield against Buffalo. He would finish the game with five receptions for 61 yards overall, maybe his most efficient postseason performance in a career otherwise light on postseason highlights — no touchdowns, just 45.4 receiving yards per game entering Sunday, one late-season injury after another getting in his way.

But Andrews, wide open near the front pylon on the Ravens’ 2-point try, could not catch the game’s most important pass, and that is all anyone will remember.

“He catches everything,” Flowers said Monday. “He dropped one. He dropped two. I mean, it’s football. So sometimes that happens.”

“There’s nobody that has more heart and cares more or fights more than Mark,” Harbaugh said after the loss. “We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews. That’s what you say to him.”

“He’s been busting his behind,” Jackson said Sunday. “He’s been making plays out on that field for us. Came up short.”

Andrews finished 2024 with 55 catches for 673 yards and led all NFL tight ends with 11 touchdown receptions. His 79.7% catch rate was the highest of his career, and he entered the divisional round as the NFL’s second-rated tight end, according to ESPN’s receiver tracking metrics.

Now Andrews is set to enter the final year of his deal with a $16.9 million cap hit, the fourth-highest on the team in 2025. The Ravens are unlikely to move on from Andrews, but with ascendant tight end Isaiah Likely entering the final year of his rookie deal, team officials could have a decision to make at the position.

Jackson said he spoke with Andrews after Sunday’s game, and said he’s “just as hurt as Mark.” Ricard said he offered a few sentences of comfort, even as he knew there was “nothing that he needs to hear” that he didn’t already know. Time, Ricard said, would “be his friend right now.”

“I think once he’ll get away from here, spend time with his family and his girlfriend, I think he’s only going to grow from this and be even better, which is scary, because he’s already very good,” Ricard said. “So I love him and he’s had a great year. Can’t let one game or one play decide your whole career or anything like that. So we know this won’t define him or shape him. So he’s a great man. He’ll be fine moving forward.”