[News] Terrence Brooks Ahead Of Schedule, Playing With Starters

[BallsoHard622]

I think brooks can be as good or close to an earl Thomas. Give him a couple years an he will show us. He's got all the measurables an the athleticism to be great.

[Joey Flac]

hope he can add to the defenses cast of weapons... each position has a viable back-up that can come in on sub-packages or to give someone a play off.

[ravensrock007]

Kick some butt Brooks!

[eric199479]

love our safety depth. we have a solid mix of veterans (kendrick lewis and will hill) and young guys (brooks and elam). not giving up on elam yet. just watched his college highlights, and that guy has a lot of talent. maybe it was just a confidence thing last year?

[Cillmatic]

We have a good little Safety farm going on, hoping he can get better, he might even end up better than Kendrick Lewis.

[ellicottraven]

Good luck Brooks! You push them for a starting spot and let them push you for a starting spot. Finally all of you will be ready if called into action and we'll be plenty deep and plenty fresh right through the season! I guarantee you!

[Ravensfansince03]

I still remember the hit he put on Delanie Walker.

[The Greek]

hope are secondary stays healthy and is not a weakness come playoff time

[FloridaRaven]

Ed Reed is the last Raven I'm aware of that was a film rat like that. My personal belief is that is something that has been missed much more than most fans realize.

[KidNme]

It's obvious that the FO is fixing the glaring holes we had last year and oh my gosh, are they doing it good!

I start drinking the Purple kool-aid about this time, every year but this time, I think it's warranted. We've had a few top notch players hit with injuries over the last couple years that we hung on to and are now coming back to play. Should be exciting and if nothing else, I bet the rest of the league will be watching our waivers because we have way too much talent now, to keep them all!

I am predicting we'll have at least one game where we score over 50 points.

I also think our not allowing a 100yd rusher will stay intact.

[Purple Dawg 96]

Secondary was banged up BIG TIME and STILL had a chance to win against the pats! SMH! Wanna see Brooks and Elam back there together! Brooks just had a "Minor setback for a Major comeback"! Let's do this!

[Amesr52]

I still go on YouTube just to look up his big hit from last season. I think it was Delanie walker? If he stays healthy he could be a great safety. Glad to see his body seems to heal fast.

[Amesr52]

love our safety depth. we have a solid mix of veterans (kendrick lewis and will hill) and young guys (brooks and elam). not giving up on elam yet. just watched his college highlights, and that guy has a lot of talent. maybe it was just a confidence thing last year?

It was lack of confidence bit also a lot to do with the fact he was pretty much playing a slot cb all season. He is best in his natural box safety position. He should be blitzing the edges and dropping back deep in zone coverage. Not playing man to man in the slot. That's just not the type of player he is. But it's his fault for not winning the starting safety spot. If half our secondary wasn't injured last season I doubt we would have seen him at all besides special teams.

[jravens13]

Damn he is running with the 1's. Look out, we might have something great on our hands.

Edited June 6, 2015 by jravens13

[RavenManiac#7]

I can't see any chance of him not being on the 53 this year. Yeah, he's got people ahead of him on the depth chart early on, and he's still got some healing to get through, but he has impressed by being so far ahead of schedule and, also, with his potential on the field. Although I see Will Hill as the starter at free safety, who knows about Elam and depending on how Brooks pans out it just could mean that we'll be that much stronger in our revamped secondary. Just, PLEASE, let us escape the injury curse this season.

[RavenManiac#7]

What the heck am I talking about today? It's Kendrick Lewis I meant to say as the free safety starter, not Hill! And Elam is behind Hill at strong safety, not Lewis! I think I better get my thoughts in order before I make another post today. I think my mind must be elsewhere. Sorry, everybody!

[RavenManiac#7]

Lewis is under contract for three years and Hill is in the final year of his contract and is an UFA next year so if either Brookes or Elam can step up and prove they belong on the field there could conceivably be a spot for one of them. If not, Elam may be gone and they may resign Hill and I look for Brookes to get one more shot and he will be done too. I would love for our homegrown guys to step up and take the role but if not, we won't be hurting unless the injury bug reaches out and grabs us by the ACL or something even worse.

Why would Elam and Brooks have to be gone if they don't beat out Lewis and Hill for starting jobs? Depending on their contract situations, they could still be depth and backups. We can't just go with our two starting safeties. If Elam improves and Brooks continues to develop, I like the sound of Lewis, Hill, Brooks, Elam, and Levine if we keep 5 safeties. They can't all start and if they don't that doesn't have to mean they have to go. Man, every year good competition brings out the best in players. I say keep as many quality guys as you can afford and let them all keep pushing each other.

[balfan23]

What the heck am I talking about today? It's Kendrick Lewis I meant to say as the free safety starter, not Hill! And Elam is behind Hill at strong safety, not Lewis! I think I better get my thoughts in order before I make another post today. I think my mind must be elsewhere. Sorry, everybody!

FYI - you can edit posts. You're not the only one that makes mistakes in the initial post. I would guess I edit about 1/3 of all posts I put out here. 

[balfan23]

This is great news. Given the severity and the timing of his injury, I thought for sure he'd start the season on the PUP. Doesn't look like that is the case. I still think he'll be hard pressed to see a lot of the field, but it is great to see that he's healthy enough to be out there with the team and continuing to learn and grow. 

[cobrajet]

This is great news. Given the severity and the timing of his injury, I thought for sure he'd start the season on the PUP. Doesn't look like that is the case. I still think he'll be hard pressed to see a lot of the field, but it is great to see that he's healthy enough to be out there with the team and continuing to learn and grow. 

You are absolutely right, with the timing and severity of that injury, he must have put in some serious rehab time to get to where he is today. I give Brooks a lot of credit for that. I am also glad to hear that Webb is helping this young man, since he went though it twice, he has experience with what worked best (at least for him).

[Grapple Raven]

This is great news. Given the severity and the timing of his injury, I thought for sure he'd start the season on the PUP. Doesn't look like that is the case. I still think he'll be hard pressed to see a lot of the field, but it is great to see that he's healthy enough to be out there with the team and continuing to learn and grow. 

 

Agreed balfan23, he tore his knee up badly.  I hope he and the team will be smart with his rehab. going forward and not rush it. 

 

I also think Brooks has matured and learned a lot since his injury, as his comments suggest:  “I needed to study more. It kind of got me out of whack not studying as much as I should have been. Now I see, after talking to the vets and guys who played here before, studying and film work is probably 60 percent of it. The rest is you going out and making plays.  “Now when I’m on the field, it’s straight business, no mercy. [The injury] definitely changed my mindset.”

 

Sounds like Brooks had a little talk with Ed Reed, lol.  Seriously though, this is a very important lesson for all rookies. A lot of rookies come into the league thinking their athleticism is going to carry them in the NFL, particularly for those who had heralded careers at the college level.  They rely on their talent exclusively, and when it is gone (via injury) they reach an epiphany.   Few learn that the major part of the game is mental. They kind of get the cart before the horse, so to speak.  Those that learn this lesson the quickest are usually the most successful.  I'm glad Brooks has figured this out now.  It will serve him well going forward.

[Purple&Black]

Knee injuries are no joke. 90% of guys try to come back too soon and they struggle because of it. Unless your name is Adrian Peterson chances are it will take more than a year to be 100% and then even more time to regain confidence in the knee.

[TrooRavenFan]

Brooks over Elam ANY-DAY!!!!!!

[harfordravenfan]

FYI - you can edit posts. You're not the only one that makes mistakes in the initial post. I would guess I edit about 1/3 of all posts I put out here.

I probably edit 50% of mine.

Edited June 7, 2015 by harfordravenfan

[Fastynart]

Elam shouldn't even be on the team. He flat out stinks. Can't cover, can't tackle. What good is he? Just a wasted pick at number 1.

[stampedehero]

Right off the bat I would start Kendrick Lewis based on experience.  Hill is backup and  Brooks a bench mate.  Elam has to proove himself to stay on the 53.