Ravens’ Boykin acting as the voice of reason
Miles Boykin has the voice of comfort, but also of common sense.
A year ago as a rookie, Boykin caught 13 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, enough to make the Ravens coaching staff feel good about his potential.
But it was not enough to stop the Ravens and their fans from contemplating drafting a receiver in the first round of the annual draft which is set to begin its three-day run Thursday night.
That might make some players nervous, but not Boykin. He has it in perspective and is able to separate football from the big battle that is going on in this country with the coronavirus.
“There are some people who don’t have jobs, some people who can’t pay rent,” Boykin said. “Our season is kind of in limbo right now and all we can do is wait. But at the same time, we want to be
safe and our fans have to be safe. We’re all in this together, which is why I decided I wanted to give something back.”
Boykin’s name is not of the household variety in Baltimore, not yet anyway, but he has a golden voice. In the radio business they call it “good pipes.” He is like a baritone Barry White and people have been complimenting him about his voice since high school.
So, a couple of weeks ago Boykin did a national call-in sports talk show for about an hour and raised money that was donated to The United Way Covid Relief Fund. He will probably do a couple of more including one in Chicago where his mother, Felicia, is a nurse at St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights.
Boykin was surprised about the success of his radio debut. Maybe a star was born.
“It was a virtual meet and greet,” said Boykin, who admits the Los Angeles Lakers are his favorite team because of star player LeBron James. “I was FaceTiming fans or anybody who wanted to call in and talk. The whole experience was awesome, and I am extremely grateful to be able to give back. People are stuck inside all day, nothing to do, and this gave them a chance to interact with meand gave mea chance to speak with them.
“It was fun interacting with them and hopefully I gave them some hope,” Boykin said. “I got a chance to go on and talk sports all day. Who doesn’t want to do that?” So now, let us talk football.
A year ago, the Ravens made the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Boykin a third-round pick out of Notre Dame.
The Ravens thought he would be the answer on the outside. On one side there would be Boykin, who has great speed, and on the other side or in the slot would be the smaller, faster, and more elusive Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
Brown started 11 of 14 games and had 46 catches for 584 yards and seven touchdowns. Despite both playing reasonably well for rookies, the Ravens still are in search of a dominant receiver.
The might target Laviska Shenault from Colorado, LSU’s Justin Jefferson or Baylor’s Denzel Mimms in the draft. Regardless, Boykin does not care.
He is secure in himself and his game. “That’s the NFL,” Boykin said. “That is what teams are supposed to do; go out, get better and create competition. Obviously, I think we already have a good receiving corps but to add to it will make us better. That is the mentality of this sport and this team. You always have to be ready for competition because it’s a team game.”
Boykin started the preseason strong and showed good leaping ability and a willingness to go up and attack the ball in training camp. But he only had two catches for 13 yards in the last five games of the season.
When asked this week if he had hit the proverbial wall for rookies late in the season, Boykin suggested he might have. College football players train for their last season during the summer and virtually get no rest for nearly a year and a half if their teams participate in the playoffs and bowl games, and they train individually for the scouting combine.
Soon after last season ended, Boykin flew to Puerto Rico for a week of relaxation before heading back home to rehab from several nagging injuries.
“I was beat up for sure,” Boykin said. “I had to rest up a little bit to the get the body back in shape and everything feeling right again. In college, the best teams play maybe 14 or 15 games. That is nothing compared to the NFL. You play 16 games, then go to the playoffs.
“It is completely different,” he said. “The intensity is different. Then you have Monday night games and Thursday night games and it throws off your timing and takes a toll on your body. It felt like my first year in college. In high school, you played nine games then in college it was up to 12. Now, it is more. It’s not anything I can’t handle; I’ve experienced it now.”
It is the experience that Boykin hopes will elevate his game in 2020. He came back to Baltimore early during the offseason so he could begin his training program. But the team facility has been closed because of the virus.
Boykin is improvising with his own methods at home. Like most Ravens he is driven by the end of the 2019 season when the Ravens lost to the Tennessee Titans at home in a divisional playoff game.
Before that the Ravens had won 14 of 16, including 12 straight. They had the NFL’s top offense and ended with 13 players named to the Pro Bowl.
But they had no conference or Super Bowl Trophies to show for it.
“It was a unique experience for me,” Boykin said. “We won 12 straight games, we had a great bunch of guys and it was so much fun in our locker room. Overall, I think I played well but I could have done better. There are a lot of things to worked on, but I’m better prepared this year.
“I have to work on my consistency and making plays when my number is called,” he said.
“I want the team to be able to count on me in big moments. We had a good season, but not good enough. It was all bittersweet. The team goal is to win a Super Bowl and that’s where everybody’s mind is locked going into next season.”