The Baltimore Ravens are bringing in free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant for a workout this week. But he’s not alone.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Baltimore officially had wide receivers Dwayne Harris, Dez Bryant; punter Johnny Townsend; and quarterback Kenji Bahar in for tryouts. The workouts come a day after the Ravens placed cornerback Iman Marshall on injured reserve and coach John Harbaugh said wide receiver Chris Moore would miss a few weeks with a broken finger.
Harris has been in the league for quite some time, entering his 10th year in the NFL and looking for his fourth team. While Harris is listed as a wide receiver, he hasn’t really done much since 2016. Since that time, he’s caught eight passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. However, Harris has seen quite a lot of playing time on special teams and has been quite effective there.
Over his nine years in the league, Harris has returned 180 punts for 1,825 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also returned 163 kickoffs for 4,204 yards and a touchdown. He earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2016 after posting an impressive 10 yards-per-punt-return average and a 28.7 yards-per-kickoff-return average.
While Bryant has been the primary focus of these workouts, the addition of Harris points to Baltimore wanting to add yet another special teams player to the mix. The Ravens currently have several players fighting for the return specialist job and with Moore missing time, Baltimore could be looking for another productive gunner as well. Bryant has rarely played on special teams and likely isn’t interested in taking on that role at this stage of his career. But with only one roster spot currently available, that lack of versatility might mean Bryant needs to really impress in his workout to get a contract.
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