Marquise "Hollywood" Brown took another step closer to playing in his first game, but he's still just "Holly" to his teammates.
That's what linebacker Patrick "Peanut" Onwuasor called Brown when he stepped onto the field for his first team drills (7-on-7) of the summer in Saturday's practice. It was his first time facing an NFL defense.
"They'll be like, 'You're Holly right now. You don't get the full name,'" Brown said with a chuckle. "I'll try to make some plays and I'll earn my name."
Brown didn't go through the full practice in full-team drills, but he did enough to give a teaser of his great potential. The Ravens want to get the ball in his hands in a variety of ways to watch him make big plays.
Brown mostly did comeback routes and shallow crossers during the team drills. He didn't catch anything deep, which will be a big part of the speedster's game once he's at full-speed. Brown said he regretted not making a catch on a pass that was a little behind him.
"It felt pretty good for the first day," Brown said before being asked whether he feels as fast as he did at Oklahoma. "I feel like I'm moving pretty good out there. That was a long time ago, so I'm just focused on right now how I'm moving going forward."
"He looked real fast," said Pass Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach David Culley. "He didn't feel fast, but I told him I didn't see anything that would say that he's been injured. He's not quite where he was before, but I like where he's at right now."
Head Coach John Harbaugh said the team will monitor how Brown's foot responds to the increased workload, but that he was pleased with what he saw on the field Saturday.
So what are the chances of Brown playing in Thursday's second preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium?
"I don't know," Harbaugh said. "It's up to the trainers and the docs, and we'll see."
Here are other notes from practice:
- Lamar Jackson had another precise day overall outside of an interception on a clear communication error between he and his receiver (picked off by Brandon Carr). Harbaugh said somebody recently talked to Jackson about his strong grasp of the offense. His response: "Well, I know what I'm doing."
- Tight end Mark Andrews had another dominant day. He's going to be a handful for opposing teams in the red zone. While Andrews has gotten a lot of buzz this summer, don't forget about Hayden Hurst either. The fellow second-year tight end is getting good separation.
- Veteran defensive back Bennett Jackson made one of the best interceptions of training camp thus far when he ranged far and went high to pick off a pass intended for undrafted rookie Antoine Wesley.
- Speaking of Wesley, he stood out once again. He has a real knack for going up and high-pointing the football. Wesley wins a lot of one-on-one matchups (though rookie cornerback Iman Marshall did a nice job breaking one long one up).
- Rookie wide receiver Miles Boykin hauled in a deep pass behind Marshall. Boykin is excellent at separating at the top of his route, showing another gear to finish the play.
- Wide receiver Seth Roberts, running back Kenneth Dixon and cornerback Maurice Canady were all missing from practice after the team's first game Thursday night. Harbaugh said they were all "little things." Roberts told Harbaugh he should be back in a week or so but doctors said it was maybe two weeks. Undrafted rookie linebacker Michael Onuoha (Texas A&M Commerce) broke his wrist, Harbaugh announced.
