Marlon Humphrey has noticed ‘major energy change’ with Ravens’ WR group, praises Rashod Bateman
The Baltimore Ravens upgraded their wide receiver room during the 2021 offseason, bringing in Sammy Watkins in free agency while also adding Rashod Bateman and Tylan Wallace in the draft. Those three will pair up with players like Marquise Brown and Devin Duvernay to form a talented group of wideouts.
As a member of the secondary, cornerback Marlon Humphrey goes up against the pass catchers in practice almost every day. He said that he’s noticed a “major energy shift” in the wide receiver group.
“Something I definitely have noticed differently with our receiving corps … I actually noticed it when I first got back. I look over during warmups, and I’m seeing our wide receivers coaches doing some different things, and I’m seeing the wide receivers coaches acting like DBs, and I’m like, ‘They need to put on some cleats.’ So, I noticed the energy. I felt a major energy change with that wide receiver group, not only with the coaching, but just with the wide receivers that are there.”
Humphrey also praised Bateman for what he’s seen from him so far in person, but admitted that he “couldn’t really tell” about him at first.
“Bateman – I couldn’t’ really tell about him. I’m like, ‘Ehh, ehh,’ then he hit me with something, caught the ball, ran out of bounds and came up and tapped me on the butt, and was like, ‘I’ve got a little wiggle, too.’ So, I was like, ‘I like that.’ Really good guy right there.”
When asked to elaborate on if he likes to see rookies trash talking because of what Bateman said to him, Humphrey went into detail on why he was pleased to see Bateman say a little something to him and express his confidence.
“Oh, yes – definitely. Yes, that’s good stuff, just because it shows that there’s major confidence there. It’s one thing when you can play … If you get to the NFL, you can play football – that’s just that simple. But it’s the confidence that will take you to the next level. You see a lot of first-rounders get in the league and never pan out. It has nothing to do with ability; it’s more the confidence – that’s the biggest thing. Once that confidence goes away, it’s something that’s very tough to get it back, especially at this level. Every wide receiver, I feel like, what makes a lot of them great is the confidence they have. They might drop a pass here [or] drop a pass there, but the next time they go up, they’re thinking, ‘This is going to be my catch. This is going to be my ball.’ So, to see that out of [Rashod] Bateman, it just showed me the confidence he has.”
The cornerback also let it be known that he believes that Baltimore “got a pretty good one” in the rookie out of the University of Minnesota.
“After guarding him throughout OTAs and minicamp the other day, I’ve seen some serious flashes. I told [executive vice president and general manager Eric] DeCosta, I was like, ‘Hey, man. I think we got a pretty good one in Bateman.’ So, he’s shown some really good things to me. I can’t wait to get some more battles with him in training camp and take it into the season.”
Bateman is expected to be a big part of what the Ravens do on offense, so to see him already earning the respect of one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL is a great sign. All of Baltimore’s receivers will be important pieces in what should be an improved passing game, so to hear that Humphrey also senses a big energy shift with the wideouts shows that there’s a different feeling in the building for the Ravens so far in 2021.
