Ravens WR James Proche Has Breakout Game
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens wide receiver James Proche has quietly worked hard in practice and bided his time until he got the opportunity to make plays in a game.
The moment came in Week 4 in a 23-7 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Proches was targeted six times and caught five passes for 74 yards, which was second on the team behind Marquise Brown, who had four catches for 91 yards.
“Like I said it’s really just a byproduct of me doing my job," Proche said. "Coach put me in, I had a route, I ran the route, [Ravens QB] Lamar [Jackson] threw it to me— I was just doing my job. I didn’t do anything extra. ‘Coach Dub’ (Ravens Pass Game Specialist Keith Williams) always talks about just staying the course. To just keep staying locked in and to not get too high or too low and I’ve been really trying to work on that.
"You can call it emotional stability or whatever you want to. I put a lot into this game. I care a lot about it, so I play with a lot of passion so to just kind of stay even keel—it’s good for me.”
Proche was the Ravens' best wide receiver during training camp. He is routinely the first player in the Under Armour Performance Center during the week and one of the last to leave.
His work ethic has not been lost on coach John Harbaugh, who finally gave Proche a moment to shine.
“No surprise there, he’s been doing it in training camp, and he did it in preseason games," Harbaugh said. "He did it when we went down to Carolina. He started doing it whenever he got into games. Five catches and seventy-four yards. He is going to be mad about the one he didn't catch, the shoe-string type catch. He had a big-time game and a key third-down conversion late in the game. I am very proud of him”
The Ravens wide receivers had their best performance against the Broncos, who were determined to shut down their running game. Quarterback Lamar Jackson completed 22 of 27 passes for 316 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.
“It was great. It was fantastic," Proche said. "It was a collective just always doing our job and you love to see that because later down the road they’ve got to respect us now. All the talk on Twitter and all that nonsense, they’ve got to respect us now. It’s going to help the run game, and the defense is going to help everything. Everybody is doing their job.”
