{"id":993296,"date":"2026-09-06T10:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T10:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/993296\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T10:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T10:12:18","slug":"jaylinn-hawkins-is-hoping-to-get-ravens-safeties-to-the-next-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/993296\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaylinn Hawkins is hoping to get Ravens safeties to the next level"},"content":{"rendered":"

Join the huddle. Sign up here<\/a> for Ravens updates in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Even as his own offense sliced through the Ravens\u2019 secondary in a fourth-quarter, game-winning drive, New England Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins stood on the sideline impressed by his opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, this defense is nice,\u201d Hawkins recalled thinking. \u201cFrom the D-line, from the front seven to the back end, I\u2019m like, \u2018Man, they got boys all over.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

From M&T Bank Stadium\u2019s seats, Jayda, his wife, feared the game could turn at any moment. <\/p>\n

The comeback never came \u2014 Lamar Jackson had left the game with an injury \u2014 and Baltimore lost, 28-24, in December. While the Ravens went on to miss the playoffs and embark on their first coaching search in 18 years, the Patriots ran from that win all the way to the Super Bowl, where they fell to former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald\u2019s Seattle Seahawks in a defensive showdown.<\/p>\n

Despite the success of the Patriots and the upheaval in Baltimore, when Hawkins hit free agency, he thought of the Ravens as a team he\u2019d want to join. A true Californian, Jayda said, her husband is big on energy and vibes. And, as a veteran coming off a Super Bowl run, Hawkins wanted to go somewhere he could win. The Ravens, despite their letdown of a season and new coaching staff, checked all the boxes.<\/p>\n

On March 12, the Ravens announced they were signing Hawkins to a two-year, $10 million deal. He slotted in immediately alongside second-year starting safety Malaki Starks, which has allowed Pro Bowler Kyle Hamilton to be used all over the field \u2014 the role he\u2019s most excelled in through his career.<\/p>\n

Since arriving in Baltimore, Hawkins has impressed his new teammates with his knowledge and communication skills. He\u2019s been noticeable on the sidelines for his dancing and on the field for his energy and competitiveness.<\/p>\n

As he helps kick off Jesse Minter\u2019s head coaching tenure in Baltimore, Hawkins hopes to bring some of the victory vibes to the city \u2014 and steadiness to a secondary that has struggled at the start of recent seasons. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the guy who\u2019s going to be playing for y\u2019all, who\u2019s going to be out there trying to win for y\u2019all,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cThe city is important, man, and it\u2019s nothing like winning when the city is turned up. Like, that is an amazing thing, and when they\u2019re working hand in hand, there ain\u2019t nothing more powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone wanted to be around him\u2019<\/p>\n

Jayda first noticed Jaylinn amid the weight machines in the University of California gym.<\/p>\n

As a beach volleyball player, her workouts would overlap with the football players\u2019 at times, and Jaylinn\u2019s energy was impossible to miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knew him,\u201d Jayda said. \u201cHe was really just always laughing. Everyone wanted to be around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were just friends through college, although they started to get to know each other better as Jaylinn attended meetings of the Black student-athlete committee \u2014 Jayda was on the board.<\/p>\n

Although she liked both playing and watching sports, Jayda wasn\u2019t a die-hard football fan. When she attended games, she couldn\u2019t miss Jaylinn\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single time I would go to a football game, Jaylinn got an interception,\u201d Jayda said. \u201cAnd they were always like crazy interceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

After college, Jaylinn got drafted by the Atlanta Falcons while Jayda moved to Los Angeles to work in consulting. They reconnected during one of her trips to Atlanta and started dating. She joined him in Atlanta two years after graduation.<\/p>\n

While Jaylinn was transitioning to the next step of his athletic career, Jayda was transitioning out of athletics. Graduation meant the end of her time as a volleyball player and life as an elite athlete.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so tough, like, I feel like your relationship with working out just completely changes,\u201d Jayda said. \u201cAnd then being with someone who\u2019s still so heavily in it is a whole other thing, because you see how much they\u2019re putting into it, but you don\u2019t have anything that you\u2019re necessarily working for from a performance standpoint. You\u2019re just working out for health and wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she redefined the role of exercise in her life, Jayda discovered Pilates. Jaylinn gave it a try, too.<\/p>\n

Soon enough, they were hooked. Jayda became a certified instructor in an attempt to learn more. Jaylinn quickly saw the impact on his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cDurability, movement and just the way my core was connected to everything whenever I\u2019m twisting, turning and getting out of a break, I just felt more explosive and more stable,\u201d Jaylinn said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jayda was starting to learn more about Jaylinn\u2019s main form of exercise: football. The two do almost everything together, and that includes watching film. Now she finds herself picking up on the subtleties of the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cJaylinn likes showing me everything when he comes home from practice,\u201d Jayda said. \u201cHe\u2019ll show me plays from practice where he feels like he messed up, where he feels like he did good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding his way<\/p>\n

In Boston, Jayda watched as Jaylinn found his joy in the game again.<\/p>\n

A happy, easygoing person, Jaylinn had struggled dealing with the politics and business side of the NFL. He started 16 games in his third year but none for the Falcons the next season and was waived. The Chargers claimed him, but he started only three games. <\/p>\n

He landed with the struggling Patriots in free agency, and the coach, Jerod Mayo, was fired.<\/p>\n

But one season later, with Mike Vrabel taking over, everything changed and Jaylinn finally got to play in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

He started every game he played and had the best season of his career. He even added a Super Bowl interception to his highlight reel.<\/p>\n

When he hit free agency, he immediately thought of the Ravens.<\/p>\n

Jaylinn called around about Minter and liked what he heard \u2014 and what he saw from the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the way he just places different players to play to their strengths,\u201d Jaylinn said. \u201cHe\u2019s very unique and very dope, and it\u2019s a good team-coordinated defensive structure. You hardly see anybody out of position, you hardly see any leaks or anything in coverages, so that\u2019s very unique to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baltimore seemed like a place they could be happy, and it seemed like a place they could win \u2014 the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s early days, and Jaylinn acknowledged he has a lot of work ahead of him. But last season\u2019s Super Bowl loss still stings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s hungrier now than ever to get back to the Super Bowl,\u201d Jayda said.<\/p>\n

Hawkins did not play in preseason games, so it remains something of a mystery how he\u2019ll be used. In practice, he\u2019s been aggressive while also limiting big plays. He\u2019s also bested tight end Mark Andrews in memorable one-on-one battles. <\/p>\n

\u201cJaylinn Hawkins comes in, and he is barking out calls like he has been here the whole time that I have been here,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cIt is really helpful, and I think that kind of pushes me and pushes people who have been here to kind of keep a standard up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Join the huddle. Sign up here for Ravens updates in your inbox. Even as his own offense sliced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":993297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2052],"tags":[184,7691,117,2282,58435,7,6,169,111],"class_list":["post-993296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baltimore-ravens","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-city","tag-baltimore-ravens","tag-baltimoreravens","tag-battle-of-the-beltway","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-ravens","tag-washington-commanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117223564517122290","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=993296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/993297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=993296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=993296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=993296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}