After a four-catch, two-touchdown performance in his NFL debut, Baltimore Ravens rookie wide receiver and College of the Canyons alum Marquise Brown put opposing teams’ defensive coordinators and players on notice in the 59-10 win over the Miami Dolphins in Miami on Sunday, Sept. 9.
In his debut, Brown became the NFL’s first player to catch two 40-yard touchdowns to begin a career.
The rookie wide receiver followed up the performance setting a career-high in both receptions (eight) and targets (13) for 86 receiving yards in a 23-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals the following Sunday.
Adjusting their defensive schemes to focus on Brown’s elite receiving abilities, defenses started to hone in on him, leading to tighter pass coverages and double teams. As a result, Brown managed only six catches on 16 targets for 71 yards combined in the two losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns the following two games.
Brown found the end zone once again on an 11-yard touchdown catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers and finished the game with 3-of-5 catches for 22 yards and a score. In the contest, Brown suffered an apparent ankle injury early in the game and exited the game until the fourth quarter, where he caught one pass.
Due to the ankle injury, Brown was forced to miss the first NFL game of his career last week in the Ravens 23-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Through Week 6 of the NFL schedule, Brown has caught 21 receptions for 326 yards and three touchdowns in five games played.
Brown is considered day-to-day with the team heading into Sunday’s Week 7 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle.
Valencia grad and third-year Seahawks free safety Tedric Thompson might have the task of lining up across and possibly guarding Brown this weekend with the Ravens traveling to Seattle.
In four games this season, Thompson has accrued 16 tackles (seven solo) and has been near the top of the league’s interception leaders, intercepting one pass in each of the past two games against the Los Angeles Rams and the Browns.
Thompson is currently tied for seventh place in the NFL with two interceptions on the year. Brown joins other elite defenders such as San Francisco’s cornerback Richard Sherman, Chicago’s cornerback Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and the newly acquired Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters.
The Jacksonville Jaguars second-year starting outside linebacker Leon Jacobs, a Golden Valley graduate, got off to a notable start in his first NFL action and has since produced for the Jaguars, totaling 14 tackles (seven solo) and a sack.
Jacobs has helped Jacksonville solidify their run defense and has two four-tackle games both in losses to the Houston Texans and the New Orleans Saints.
Jacobs’ next opportunity to build on this year’s stats comes on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.
