OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The biggest disappointment of Baltimore Ravens rookie minicamp was that a certain tryout player didn’t hide a cell phone underneath a goal post.
Joe Horn Jr., son of the former Pro Bowl wide receiver, is looking to make the Ravens after going undrafted. Horn caught 15 passes for 246 yards and no touchdowns last season for Division II Missouri Western.
“Joe Horn Jr. looked really good,” coach John Harbaugh said after Saturday’s practice. “I guess the thing that struck me about him was he looked like Joe Horn.”
Horn’s father was a four-time Pro Bowl receiver who is the all-time leader in touchdown catches (50) for the New Orleans Saints. He is most remembered for celebrating a score in 2003 by pulling a phone from underneath the goalpost padding and pretended to make a call.
It’s unknown whether the Ravens will sign Horn Jr. — undersized at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds — to their 90-man roster. Baltimore is suddenly deep at the position after drafting Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin in the first three rounds last week.
“His son looks like him — quick, fast, really good hands, in and out of breaks,” Harbaugh said. “You can tell he’s worked with his dad a lot on technique. I just thought he looked excellent.”
During Saturday’s practice, Horn Jr. was praised by wide receivers coach David Culley for how he ran a comeback route to the sideline.
“Joe, your dad would be proud of you on that play,” Culley said.
Horn Jr. is the latest tryout player with the Ravens who has a famous football family connection. Over the years, Jerry Rice Jr. (son of the all-time great) and Mike Flacco (Joe’s brother) both had tryouts with Baltimore and ultimately weren’t signed.