Cardinals’ Marquise Brown feels Ravens didn’t ‘need’ him

Wide receiver Marquise Brown is glad to be with the Arizona Cardinals.

Furthermore, Brown feels that his former crew, the Baltimore Ravens, didn’t “want” him, the Cardinals’ official team website reported.

“It’s about happiness,” Brown mentioned. “I need to really feel like I’m part of one thing to win. At the Ravens, I simply felt like generally they actually didn’t want me. Regardless if I used to be there or not, they had been going to win video games.

“I like the sport an excessive amount of. I need to be concerned.”

In a draft evening transaction, Arizona despatched the No. 23 choose within the 2022 NFL Draft to Baltimore for Brown and the No. 100 choose. The Ravens traded again to No. 25 with the choose they acquired from Arizona, ultimately deciding on Iowa middle Tyler Linderbaum, whereas the Cardinals chosen Cincinnati defensive lineman Myjai Sanders at No. 100.

Brown is coming off the most efficient season of his NFL profession, ending 2021 with 1,008 receiving yards and 6 receiving touchdowns on 91 receptions (11.1 yards per reception). The Ravens missed the AFC Playoffs for the primary time since 2017 and have an unsure future at quarterback with Lamar Jackson but to be prolonged. 

Baltimore chosen “Hollywood” Brown with the No. 25 choose within the 2019 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma. Brown was teammates with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in 2018, the place the 2 led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff with Brown because the crew’s main receiver.

Murray thinks chemistry is “already constructed” between Murray and himself.

“I feel [chemistry] is already constructed,” Murray mentioned. “It’s the NFL, we nonetheless must work on it. What we did, we did previously. But there’s a pure connection. It’s bizarre as a result of we discuss it, however we’ve not been on the sphere collectively in a very long time.”

Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who’s getting into Year 4 in his publish and signed an extension by way of 2027 within the offseason, sees Brown mixing into Arizona’s offense.

“There are at all times going to be rising pains the primary 12 months within the offense,” Kingsbury mentioned. “But as we’ve got mentioned all alongside his familiarity with the offense based mostly on his school expertise undoubtedly helps, and his consolation stage with the quarterback is large. I count on by Week 1 he’ll perceive what we are attempting to perform.”

Brown is a part of a pass-catching core that features vast receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Rondale Moore and A.J. Green and tight finish Zach Ertz. Hopkins, although, is suspended for the primary six video games of the 2022 common season for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug coverage.  

The Cardinals will purpose to construct on an 11-6 common season that noticed them crack the NFC playoffs for the primary time since 2015. Arizona on Sunday hosts Baltimore in its second preseason affair.