‘Hollywood’ back in a flash
Rookie returns, shows game-breaking speed
At first, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown said Tuesday, patience was hard. Now the Ravens wide receiver and first-round draft pick said he knows what’s ahead of him. He knows the future could include weeks like this past one.
On Sunday, Brown graduated from positional drills to team drills, an important steppingstone in his recovery from January surgery to repair a Lisfranc (foot) injury. On Monday, he missed practice entirely; coach John Harbaugh said only that he was “recovering.” But on Tuesday, the final practice day of training camp, Brown was back on the field, appearing in more snaps, showing more speed and running more routes.
Defenders still kept their hands off Brown, lest an errant bump become a bad break.
But there were glimpses of his gamebreaking speed. In one seven-on-seven period, quarterback Joe Callahan targeted Brown, running a slant route. Brown recalled he didn’t even know Callahan had wound up until the ball was out of his hands.
“I just seen the ball,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to go get the ball.’ ”
The catch-and-run happened in such a flash that quarterback Lamar Jackson, watching from behind the play, missed it altogether: the full-extension grab, the plant on his surgically repaired left foot, the explosion upfield, like he’d been waiting all summer to reach top speed.
“I came back like, ‘What happened?’ ” Jackson said. “They were like, ‘He caught a slant and just went.’ ”
“I didn’t really get to run; I kind of broke it off quick,” Brown said. “I think I only ran, like, probably 19 mph.” (Cornerback Marlon Humphrey said earlier in camp that a Ravens trainer told him that Brown had hit 21 mph during a rehabilitation run.)
Carr wins Wheatley Award
Brandon Carr cares about the communities he has lived in and about their future, so he established the Carr Cares Foundation to inspire students in the classroom and to help them live healthy lives.
For his contribution to the youth of Baltimore, as well as his work with the National Breast Cancer Foundation and his efforts in the other cities he has called home, the Ravens cornerback was given the Tim Wheatley Award on Tuesday.
The award is given out annually by the Baltimore Sun Media Group to honor athletes and leaders that contribute just as much off the field as on it.
The award honors the memory of Tim Wheatley, the Baltimore Sun sports editor from 2006-09 who was killed in a car crash while driving his daughter to school. Wheatley was a strong supporter of community service.
Wheatley’s family, including his children David, Will and Sarah, joined the Ravens at their practice facility in Owings Mills on Tuesday to present the award to Carr after practice.
“I should have brought a note card for this gentleman,” David Wheatley said. “He’s got a long list. … Incredible, incredible job mentoring the youth in Baltimore and in other cities as well.”
Carr, 33, was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round in 2008. In 2012, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys and joined the Ravens in 2017.
Ravens sign punter
The Ravens have signed punter Sean Smith, the team announced Tuesday.
Smith fills the roster spot vacated by kicker-punter Kaare Vedvik, who was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a fifth-round draft pick Sunday. The Ravens needed another leg in camp to reduce the workload on kicker Justin Tucker.
Smith, a four-time first-team All-Pioneer Football League selection, who set a Dayton record for punting average (45.4 yards) as a senior in 2018, attended rookie minicamp with the Ravens in the spring.