OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown deleted a critical postgame tweet after coach John Harbaugh texted him about it.
Brown was upset about being targeted a career-low two times in Sunday’s 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He vented his frustration an hour after the game by tweeting: “What’s the point of having souljas when you never use them (Never!!)”
Harbaugh reached out to Brown, and the tweet was deleted later Sunday night.
“I promise you, we’re trying to use all of our guys; he knows that,” Harbaugh said Monday. “[He’s] probably a little frustrated, but he’s not a selfish guy. I don’t believe he is for one second. If he was, he wouldn’t play as hard as he did or be the good guy that he is around the building every single day. So, I have a lot of trust in him, and the fact that he took it down, I appreciated that.”
Brown, a first-round pick from a year ago, caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson for his only reception Sunday. He leads the Ravens this season with 27 catches, but his 379 yards receiving ranks 33rd in the NFL.
This has been a disappointing start for Brown, who had high expectations after being a year removed from foot surgery. He bulked up 23 pounds this offseason and worked out with his cousin and former All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Harbaugh said he hadn’t spoken to Brown as of Monday.
“I’ll tell you this, he did play the game like a soldier,” Harbaugh said. “He was fighting very hard out there — blocking and running routes and had, obviously, a big touchdown catch [and] almost another one right before that. So, I like the way he was fighting. I don’t disagree with the fact that if he’s saying he’s a soldier.”
Jackson and the Ravens have struggled to get their passing game on track. Baltimore is averaging 179.9 yards passing per game, which ranks 31st in the NFL.