Hill could be valuable contributor
It looks like rookie running back Justice Hill might become a bigger weapon than expected f or t he Ravens this season.
Hill, a fourth-round draft pick out of Oklahoma State, was expected to be used primarily as a pass catcher out of the backfield on thirdand-long situations. But he could also be used as a change-ofpace back in the second half or as a decoy.
Ideally, the Ravens want to pound the football, and they have two good downhill runners in Mark Ingram II and Gus Edwards. But if the Ravens get a lead and can wear teams down, that might be a great time to use Hill.
The kid has good speed and the ability to get to the line of scrimmage or into a hole and bounce outside. He looks smaller than the 5 feet 10 and 200 pounds he is listed at on the team roster, but he might give the Ravens a weapon
8:43 a.m.: His helmet in hand, a purple Ravens bandanna across his forehead, Brown walks out of the team facility and onto the field for practice. “Oh, man, I was very excited,” he said afterward. “I’ve been waiting on this.”
8:46: Standing at the front of a line of stretching Ravens, Brown warms up with the team. With his helmet on, he’s a head shorter than fellow rookie and roommate Miles Boykin. Through five practices, the third-round pick has been the team’s most impressive wide receiver. “I’m just trying to feed off what he’s doing and, once I’m on the field, complement him as best as I can,” Brown said.
8:49: As positional drills start, Brown moves with the team’s wide receivers and assistant coach David Culley to another field. A handful of reporters follows him.
8:54: Brown’s the last of the receivers to go through a simple drill. A fan screams, “Hollywood!” from the stands nearby as he moves to his starting spot. “Nice and easy,” Culley reminds Brown, who catches his short, uncontested, over-the-shoulder pass nicely and easily.
8:58: Another receiving drill, but more difficult now: Brown takes an outside release and makes a one-handed catch, as instructed. Fans ooh and aah.
8:59: Brown’s second go through the drill isn’t as smooth. The pass hits his right hand, then falls to the grass. “We see the ball on the ground, we coming back,” Culley says as Brown circles back. He ribs Brown: “It’s hard to drop these balls. To drop these balls, you gotta be blind.” Brown catches the next ball.
9:00: Brown and quarterback Lamar Jackson, both products of Florida’s Broward County, dap up. Off the field, they’ve bonded over their shared roots — and appreciation of rapper Kodak Black. On the field, their first connection is on a 5-yard curl route. After that, a 10-yard out.
9:06: After Jackson overshoots a short pass to Brown, they line up for their final repetition of the period. It’s a go route, and Brown isn’t holding much back. But the pass sails far overhead. “He’s fast,” a fan nearby says, “but not that fast.”
9:12: As full-team drills get underway on another field, Brown stays behind. About 10 yards from Brown, two team staffers feed a ball every few seconds into a Jugs machine. He catches most of them.
9:21: In 11-on-11 action, Jackson throws a picture-perfect deep cross to wide receiver Seth Roberts, then finds Boykin for another nice completion. Behind the play, watching, is Brown. Standing next to fellow rookie wideouts Joe Horn Jr. and Jaylen Smith, he studies sheets of paper. He’s “pretty caught up” with the Ravens’ formations and play concepts, he said afterward.
9:35: Back in positional drills, Culley has his receivers absorb a hit from a padded blocking shield before running a short out route. Brown’s hit appears quite light.
9:45: Brown continues to observe during contact drills. After kneeling, he gets up a little gingerly.
10:09: An NFL Films camera is pointed at Brown, idling on the sideline. It’s not a dynamic scene.
10:27: Ravens executive vice president and general manager Eric DeCosta, executive vice president Ozzie Newsome and director of player personnel Joe Hortiz watch from their seats in a nearby equipment shed as the offense walks through a series of plays. Brown is inserted for the last one, then takes quarter-speed steps at the snap. It’s a play for someone else.
10:45: His arms crossed, Brown stands off to the side during another positional drill: Receivers dive for an imaginary pylon as a staffer knocks them with a blocking pad.
10:50: With special teams drills taking up one practice field (and many of the receivers), Brown stays behind with Culley, Jackson, and quarterbacks Joe Callahan and Robert Griffin III, who’s still not cleared to throw. The passes start off simply: back-shoulder throws to the sideline.
11:01: After moving on to some hitch routes, Brown starts to speed up. He runs briskly through some diagonal routes to the end zone, covering about 20 yards first, then about 30, before making tip-toe catches near the sideline. After each reception (and the occasional incompletion), he conferences with Culley. “David Culley’s one of the best in the business,” Harbaugh said afterward. “He’s probably the best in the business at what he does. … The coaching he’s getting out here is second to none.”
11:13: The final horn of practice blows. Brown and Jackson run over to the team huddle, smiling and laughing. As part of his “rookie duties,” Brown sometimes has to drive Jackson home from practice. They talk about “football, life, whatever.” He’s confident their chemistry will translate to production. “I feel like it’s going to be good, so when I get on the field, it’s like, we’re not trying to just learn everything,” Brown said. “He’s got a sense of how fast I run. I’ve got a sense of how he wants to throw things.”
11:30: After Brown poses for a photo, a Ravens public relations official approaches him on the field. He’ll be talking to reporters for the first time since early May.
11:35: With an autograph line ahead, Brown grabs a permanent marker from a team staffer and begins signing as much paraphernalia as possible: the back of a Lamar Jackson jersey, a towel, a hat, a football. He takes a selfie with a fan’s camera. He smiles and flashes the “Rock on” sign with both hands for a photo with teenagers from Baltimore’s Next One Up foundation.
11:44: Brown hands off his marker after one last autograph and heads over to a cluster of about a dozen reporters and camera operators.
11:45: Brown’s asked about the next step in his recovery (“I really don’t know. I’m just taking it day-by-day”), whether he can run at full speed (“I’d beat you, probably”), the anticipation for his return around Baltimore (“It probably doesn’t bother me what other people think”) and his training regimen (“I’ll just focus on my strength and my speed”). He answers politely and softly.
11:50: After about 4½ minutes, the interview starts to wind down. “I’m sorry, guys. He’s got to go,” a public relations official announces to the assembled media. “Good job,” the official tells Brown as he heads for the team facility.
11:51: Brown opens to the doors to the facility, bound for whatever’s next on the schedule. “It’s the first step,” Harbaugh said. “Until they’re out there and cleared, you don’t have them. Once they get out there, they start that trek.”