Ravens Camp Battles: Rashod Bateman Vs. Marlon Humphrey
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman ran down the sidelines and quickly turned, anticipating a pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Just as the ball arrived, cornerback Marlon Humphrey made just enough contact with the ball to break up the completion.
Humphrey's defensive teammates hoot and hollered their approval.
Later, Bateman caught a pass right in front of Humphrey at the first-down maker.
The two playmakers should have spirited competition throughout training camp.
"I love it. Marlon is Marlon," Bateman said. "He’s a phenomenal player. He definitely makes our team better. He’s an incredible leader. So, I definitely look forward to going against him throughout training camp.”
Bateman didn't flinch when Marquise Brown was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. While he is sorry to his teammate go to a different team, he is embracing the opportunity to take over the role as Baltimore's No. 1 wide receiver.
After missing almost the first half of his rookie season following surgery, Bateman finished the year with 46 receptions for 515 yards and a touchdown.
Humphrey started all 12 games in which he appeared last season, posting 58 tackles (44 solo), 1 quarterback hit, 1 interception, a team-high 13 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble before suffering a season-ending pectoral injury in Week 13 at Pittsburgh.
Humphrey was back on the field for offseason workouts and turned up his game a notch for training camp. He's excited about the matchup challenges with Bateman.
"I’m really excited to get some good battles in with Bateman," Humphrey said. "I know what he can do on the field, I know he hasn’t shown it yet, but anyone around here in the building has seen what he can do. I think him being that Number One guy, I think he’ll lead the guys well. Just all of the receivers in general. I want our secondary to be the best secondary.
"The only way that you get that is if you have really good guys to cover in practice, so I think we have the ability to really sharpen each other."
