Ravens WR Marquise Brown's health and rapport with Lamar Jackson are fueling his career year in 2021

There’s an extremely simple explanation for why Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is in the midst of a career year.

He’s healthy, and he’s practicing.

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And yes, that might sound strange considering Brown suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain in Week 10 against the Miami Dolphins and missed just one game (the key was “no sleep” and “rehabbing for like two weeks straight”) before returning Sunday night to the tune of eight catches on 10 targets for 51 yards in Baltimore’s 16-10 win over the Cleveland Browns. And Brown did pause when asked Thursday if he’s feeling 100 percent.

“I don’t think nobody’s 100 percent in the season right now,” Brown said Thursday in a video call with PFF.

But Brown is at least consistently on the practice field this season, which is a welcome change from the first two seasons of his NFL career when he dealt with nagging foot and knee injuries.

“I think being healthy definitely has played a part — or getting healthy, should I say,” Brown said. “Just trying to be consistent, working hard in practice, really getting the practice reps up. First two years, I really was out in practice so just being out there, getting the practice reps and knowing where I need to be has been a big help.”

Through 10 games, Brown has already set career highs with 60 catches for 770 yards as the Ravens currently possess the No. 1 seed in the AFC with an 8-3 record. He’s scored six touchdowns and is hauling in 65.2 percent of his targets. Prior to his injury, Brown’s 80.2 PFF grade was good for 10th-best among wide receivers. That mark has dropped to a 75.9 grade after his last two games (a career-high), but that still puts him comfortably among the top half of starting wide receivers in the NFL at 26th.

Brown worked hard to get healthy this offseason in an effort to put up those numbers and be the same wide receiver who destroyed Big 12 defenses at Oklahoma.

“I traveled to numerous different states working with different guys,” Brown said. “A lot of people, worked with different specialists for my foot, just trying to do anything I could to get back to the player that I know I could be. The new coaches we brought in definitely helped me get my confidence back, route running and just stuff that I had got away from that now I’m starting to get back to.”