OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens wide receiver Marquise Brown caught a slant pass and accelerated during Tuesday’s practice, flashing the blazing speed that made him a first-team All-American at Oklahoma.
At other times, the 2019 first-round pick still appeared tentative changing direction. But the sight of the 5-foot-9, 170-pound rookie being back on the practice field was reassuring after he missed Monday’s practice, just two days after the Ravens had ramped up his practice participation.
Brown took 17 combined full-team and seven-on-seven reps during the shells-and-shorts practice, a bigger workload than he handled in either of the two weekend workouts. However, his return from January Lisfranc surgery on his left foot remains a day-by-day proposition with the season opener less than four weeks away.
“It’s just going to be a process with Marquise and seeing how he feels from one day to the next,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “It’s healing. I think part of it is just getting strong from the reps. He’s been healing, so he hasn’t been running and there are muscles in there that need to be trained and stuff. He looked great today. He looked really good.”
Brown is not expected to play in Thursday’s preseason opener against Green Bay after seeing most of his full-team work in non-padded practices Saturday and Tuesday. However, it’s apparent the Ravens are doing all they can to accelerate his learning curve with wide receivers coach David Culley providing individual input after most of his snaps and quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Trace McSorley, and Joe Callahan — Brown has taken reps with the first, second, and third offenses — targeting him frequently when he’s taking part in a play.
Managing any lingering soreness when he makes cuts remains a priority for the training staff, but Brown is trying to get into football shape and apply his understanding of the offensive system on the field after missing spring workouts and seeing very limited practice time in training camp until the last four days. The 22-year-old began camp on the non-football injury list before making his practice debut on July 31.
“I felt pretty good. I got me a good day off to get some rest,” said Brown, who caught two passes on five targeted throws Tuesday. “Today, I opened up more and got some shots and was able to make some plays.
“I feel like each day I’m getting better. Each day, I’ve got to knock some rust off technique-wise and [with] stuff I’ve got to get down.”
Eleven players were missing from Tuesday’s practice, a list that included right guard Marshal Yanda (foot/ankle), outside linebackers Matthew Judon, Pernell McPhee, and Mike Onuoha (wrist), wide receiver Seth Roberts, and offensive linemen Greg Senat and Randin Crecelius. Yanda and Judon have missed two consecutive workouts, but the reason for the latter’s absence is unknown.
A deep cornerback group was particularly hit hard Tuesday with Jimmy Smith, Tavon Young, Anthony Averett, and Iman Marshall all missing practice. Young has missed back-to-back practices while Marshall has sat out three in a row. Maurice Canady did return to the field for the first time since the preseason opener last Thursday.
“It’s just the middle of training camp right now. There are varying things with varying guys,” Harbaugh said. “We gave Jimmy a rest. A couple of guys need to get some tests and some things like that. It’s really nothing to comment on. But when there is, you’ll be the second to know.”
The Packers are expected to play quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the rest of their starters for roughly a quarter after Jacksonville rested virtually all of its starters against Baltimore last week. Harbaugh said he plans to follow a similar script to last week when Jackson played 16 snaps over three series before giving way to rookie Trace McSorley to begin the second quarter.
“We kind of balance it out. We have a way of doing it that goes back [to the way] my brother did it in San Francisco,” Harbaugh said. “It’s unique. It’s different than really what anybody else does, but that’s how we do it. He’ll play about the same.”
