Marquise Brown enjoyed a solid rookie season, proving to be a dynamite deep threat.
The Baltimore Ravens receiver, however, battled through injury, including an ankle injury that kept him out two games.
Now that Brown is healthy and bulked up this offseason, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson believes the wideout is in for a Year 2 leap.
"I feel like he's going to have a huge jump, more than people may think," Jackson said Wednesday, via the team's official website. "He was hurt last year, people didn't know that, but he went out there and battled his tail off each and every game on a messed up foot. Now his full potential is going to show this year I feel. He's still young, but he's going to show off. My job is to get the ball out quicker, because he's a lot faster with that foot 100 percent."
The man known as "Hollywood" Brown compiled 46 receptions on 71 targets for 584 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie. His career started with a bang, recording four receptions for 147 yards and two TDs (both of the 40-plus-yard variety) despite playing just 14 snaps in Week 1. He followed that up with eight receptions for 86 yards in Week 2. The middle of the season, however, was a slog as injuries curtailed his production.
Most rookie receivers struggle some in their first season, so while Brown's production, on the whole, wasn't otherworldly, the flashes of potential he showed when healthy are more than enough to expect big strides in Year 2.
Brown worked out with Jackson this offseason, building on their strong connection from 2019.
"(We) found a park in Hollywood, we just went out there and got our grind on," Jackson said. "We had to build some type of chemistry before we go to training camp. We didn't want to go into camp and be embarrassing ourselves. We got some work in. It wasn't like I wanted it, because we weren't able to do it as much as possible. (But) guys were looking pretty good out there."
Jackson, fresh off being named No. 1 in the NFL Top 100 players of 2020, noted that his goal is to improve his deep ball this season. If Brown stays healthy, his improvement in Year 2, coupled with Jackson's focusing on deep shots, portends to a big season for the second-year wideout.
