Sammy Watkins Facing Lofty Expectations With Ravens

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Sammy Watkins took a break from voluntary practice and knelt along the sideline, blending in with his new Ravens teammates.

Watkins, however, is expected to separate himself from the rest of the pack this season.

The veteran wide receiver could boost as a passing attack that ranked last in the NFL last season.

“I just go out there every day, trying to be a leader," Watkins said. "I think if I can be a leader and try to help the guys and help myself and learn from them, and we all learn from our coaches and just really take it seriously as far as getting open.

"This offense has been top in the league at running the ball, and if we can correlate both running and passing into the offense, I think this offensive team can be dangerous. But really, just going out there and every day just trying to work and put it together. I think that’s the most critical thing – taking coaching and trying to get better.”

First practice as a Raven ✅

👀 @sammywatkins pic.twitter.com/AXOH9scPCs
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 2, 2021

Watkins is being reunited in Baltimore with the Ravens new wide receivers coach Tee Martin. The two began working out together before Watkins' rookie season.

"I’ve been very familiar with him, and I’ve really watched his game develop throughout his career at Buffalo and Kansas City," Martin said. "I was really excited to have him join our team. For me to have the opportunity to coach him, having a veteran with his presence, his track record for making plays and being a speed route running-type of receiver, and just seeing how he was going to fit in our system.

"So, what you saw pre-practice was me getting him caught up on the week of what we put in last week. He wasn’t available last week, so I was really catching him up on some things that we had put in a week ago to get him up to speed, so that we could go out and execute today at practice.”

Over 86 career games, Watkins has caught 321 passes for 4,665 yards with 33 touchdowns. He'll turn 28 on June 14 so he has plenty of solid football ahead of him. Watkins has the speed to get behind secondaries and does an effective job gaining yards after a reception.

Last season, he finished with 37 receptions on 55 targets for 421 yards and two touchdowns over 10 games in 2020. Watkins also helped the Chiefs reach the Super Bowl in each of the past two seasons and that experience will also bode well in Baltimore, which is trying to go further in the playoffs.

"His reputation precedes him arriving here," Ravens quarterbacks coach James Urban said. "He’s a terrific player who’s played at a very high level in this league for a long time. Were it not for some unfortunate injuries, I think his numbers would be way up there. So, any time you can involve a player like that and introduce him to what we’re trying to do with our passing game,

"I think it’s a blessing. Right now, we’re in the working phase, getting to know Sammy [and] Sammy is getting to know us and our offense. We’ll see how it progresses from there, but we’re working hard at it.”