WR MARQUISE BROWN
A lot has been said about your offseason workouts. [Head strength and conditioning coach] Steve Saunders said you really got after it. Can you tell us what your mindset was going into the offseason, what you did, and what the results were? (David Ginsburg) “My mindset going in was, first off, to get healthy. I just wanted to get back to my old self. Started off in the beginning of the year just working on my foot, getting my leg back right, my whole left side of my body. And then, ramping up into May and June, I started moving around, doing routes, cutting. Then June and July, I started back working on my speed. I just took the time out to address every part of my body, just to make sure I was going into the year right.”
Did you gain ‘X’ number of pounds of muscle? Are you heavier than you were last year, yet, just as fast, I’m sure? (David Ginsburg) “Yes, while I was gaining weight, I made sure I was running. I kept track … I got the Ravens to send me a GPS tracker down to make sure I was still running at top speed, at good speed. Everything, with gaining weight, was keeping my speed and getting faster.”
I know you worked hard last year, you played through it, you never complained. But looking back at it, how challenging was it to play with your foot being less than 100 percent? How uncomfortable was it? (Luke Jones) “I’m not the guy to complain. If I’m out there, I’m going to do all I can do to help my team. It wasn’t the best circumstances, but I was just blessed to be in the NFL. I was just thankful that God allowed me to be where I was at. So, it’s no complaints. I had a good year, to me, dealing with what I had to do. [I’ll] just continue to push forward.”
How much better do you think you can be with a healthy offseason and fully recovered from the injury and taking the next step? (Jerry Coleman) “I feel I got bright days ahead. I feel 100 times better than I did last year. So, all I got to do now is focus on the plays, focus on the stuff that I’m supposed to focus on, instead of focusing on my feet and trying to stay healthy.”
What was it like working out with [free agent] WR Antonio Brown this offseason? QB Lamar Jackson even remarked about how hard he works out – lifting weights before and after the workout. What would you learn from a guy like that? What was it like working out with him? (Todd Karpovich) “I’ve been working out with ‘AB’ [Antonio Brown] since I was in college, so I know what he’s about. He’s a guy that’s going to push you, and he is a guy that takes care of his body. So, I learned about him … Just about making sure everything is right – even when you’re not injured, always work on yourself and always better yourself.”
I saw you in the locker room last year. You were down to 157 [pounds]. You didn’t look like a pro players’ physique. Was there one time in the season where you were on the field – and you’re playing with grown men at 157 [pounds] – was there one scenario where you knew you had to get stronger and bigger, even though you put up good numbers, respectable numbers? (Kirk McEwen) “I always knew, even in training camp and even through the season, I was like, ‘I got to get back.’ It wasn’t even about the weight; it was about the strength – getting my strength back to what I was used to. And just being out there, moving and trying to do different stuff that I was used to doing and not being able to do it was kind of frustrating. But then again, I was just … I had a great team around me to keep me in good spirits, to just do whatever I can to help the team.”
Did you say, specifically, how much weight you did add and put on this offseason?(Jamison Hensley) “I’m up to 180 pounds now. [I’m] feeling good and feeling strong. Ready to get after it.”
Where do you feel that weight the most? (Shawn Stepner) “I get that question a lot. I don’t feel it yet. (laughter) So, I don’t know. I don’t really feel it because, I guess, I put together a good regimen with the running. So, it wasn’t something that I just put weight on, and then I just tried to get out there and just start running. It wasn’t like that. It took time for the weight to actually even stick on me. I would gain the weight, lose it, gain it, lose it. It started sticking around June. I’m just trying to keep pushing forward.”
We heard WR Willie Snead IV say that you said that you were looking to block somebody. Where do you expect that weight to help you starting Week One? (Shawn Stepner) “I think it’ll help me [with] absorbing hits off the catch, blocking, anything physical. Just to be able to have that extra weight and strength behind you to help with injuries.”
Do you think that gaining this much weight can affect your speed? (Ximena Lugo-Latorre) “What people fail to realize, when I was at ‘OU’ [University of Oklahoma], I was 173-170 [pounds]. So, I honestly just gained about 10 pounds. I actually lost weight last year. To me, I feel back to normal, sort of to say. I feel like myself.”
QB Lamar Jackson mentioned about the possibility of [free agent] WR Antonio Brown joining your team. What’s your thought? Would you like him in the locker room? (Kevin Richardson) “‘AB’ [Antonio Brown] – he’s a guy that’s going to bring the best out of you. I feel like he could fit in this locker room. He’s a guy that’s competitive and he’s going to go out there and give 100 percent, and seeing stuff like that is going to make other guys want to do the same.”
I know last year you joked about, from your rookie duties, you had to drive QB Lamar Jackson from the facility, and so forth. If you could go way back to your time in South Florida, do you remember Lamar Jackson as a youth football player? How do you explain South Florida youth football, in general, with the talent that’s down there? (Bo Smolka) “We were just talking about this in the locker room yesterday. The talent down there is just crazy. I remember Lamar [Jackson] … He’s been a quarterback since I could remember. He was one of those guys. He was already bigger than everybody and he would just get it … He was doing the same moves that he does now, throwing it all across the field. There’s talent level all around there. Little kids from age 7-13, it’s out there. Trying to get to the NFL – that’s their dream, to get to the NFL. To those guys, I just tell them to just keep working, and put school first.”
On that same note, how have you seen QB Lamar Jackson change, if at all, after winning the MVP? He’s a superstar, a mega superstar now, on the cover of Madden, everybody knows who he is. What do you see from Lamar [Jackson], what have you seen this offseason since then? (Ryan Mink) “I feel like he’s more hungry. Even with all of that, he’s still … He pressed the issue about the Super Bowl. That’s his Number One goal – he wants to win a Super Bowl, and he wants to win more than one. So, it’s our job to make sure that we’re right to go out there and compete, and at a high level.”
Just looking back at some of your plays last year, there were some instances where you would go down, maybe stumble, before you had any contact. Was that just self-preservation? Was it your body, your feet not feeling 100 percent? (Jonas Shaffer) “A little bit of both. Sometimes, I would try to make a cut that my foot wasn’t able to make, and I would go down. Or sometimes, I just know that I’m not going to be able to make that move, so I’ll go down. It was more about getting the yards that I could get, get down, get ready for a next play. It was better for me to be in the game than to be out the game.”
You mentioned that you got the GPS tracker from the Ravens this offseason. I’m curious – how did your speed this offseason compare to what the numbers you were putting up as a rookie? (Garrett Downing) “Even with my first day running, not even going top speed, I matched my highest speed since I’ve been at the Ravens. So, I was pleased to hear that; [coaching analyst – performance] Sam [Rosengarten] was pleased to hear it. From there on, I just really can’t focus on speed again until July. I just had to make sure it was still there.” (Reporter: “And was the speed, basically, the numbers you were putting up back at ‘OU’ [University of Oklahoma]?”) “No, I didn’t get there yet. I haven’t touched that yet.” (laughter)
What advice did [free agent] WR Antonio Brown give you when you trained with him in Florida? (Ximena Lugo-Latorre) “Just, basically, the best thing you can do in the league is to be available. So, just to make sure, year-round, that I’m training my body to withstand the NFL, withstand 16 games. And also, working on your craft to be consistent game-in and game-out.”
I’m just curious – I know you guys, obviously, have put a lot of things in place to protect against the spread of coronavirus. Is there anything to you that’s especially weird, or jarring, or interesting that you’re encountering in the facility every day? (Aaron Kasinitz) “I wouldn’t say weird, because I feel like, here, they’re doing a great job of just having everything … Locker rooms – we got separated lockers. We got monitors to track how close we are to people. Honestly, I feel like they’re doing … They’re making it as safe as possible, and that was something that everybody was skeptical about – how it would be. But once we got here, we were like, ‘This could work.'”
Is there any kind of lift, or any kind of exercise that you can attribute to your muscle? Was there any kind of favorite one that you did in your workouts? (Ryan Mink) “No, I really don’t have a favorite one. Just whatever I got that day, just attack that workout 100 percent. That’s the only thing you can do to try to maximize anything you’re trying to do.”
