Texas Tech football's Jordan Brown living in the moment as receiver, returner
Jordan Brown has heard it all his life: embrace the opportunity.
That's often easier said than done. It wasn't easy for the DeSoto product to begin his career seeing limited on-field action in his two years at Kansas, which led to his transfer to the Texas Tech football team in 2022.
When he arrived in Lubbock, Brown heard the familiar refrain.
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"My mom always told me, even Coach (Joey) McGuire told me, take advantage of every opportunity that you have," Brown said Wednesday, "because you probably won't get that back."
Brown's opportunities came late in the 2022 season, establishing himself as the Red Raiders main kick returner. His most notable return came in the win over Oklahoma, a career-best 67-yarder to open the game.
"I had so much built up," Brown said of the return, "I had been through a lot, coming out of high school and even in college. It really felt good. It felt really, really good just to pop the game off just like that."
Brown has shown so far in preseason camp he has more than one trick up his sleeve, and he's hoping to make his presence felt on a more consistent basis this season.
He got that started in last Saturday's scrimmage. McGuire said afterward the 5-foot-11 junior "had a phenomenal day" that included a couple of touchdowns. The Tech coach went on to declare that if there were an offensive player of the day for the team's scrimmage, Brown would've been the guy.
McGuire noted Brown's improved physique — jumping to 190 pounds this year compared to his 2022 weight of around 180 — for one reason he's stood out in preseason camp.
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"He's put on really good muscle," McGuire said, "and you can tell by the way he's playing. He's really physical. ..."
One play from the scrimmage in particular stood out to McGuire. As the coach told it, Brown caught a deep pass with the safety ready to clobber him. That should've knocked him out of bounds. Instead, Brown charged through the tackle and kept going.
With injuries to guys such as Coy Eakin, Brown is one of the players that has seen his practice reps increase at inside receiver. Brown said he's hopeful for Eakin and Nehemiah Martinez I, also out with injury right now, have speedy recoveries and can rejoin the team at full strength.
Those absences, though, present another opportunity for Brown to state his case for more playing time. To Brown, the formula for that is rather simple.
"Just being consistent every day in practice," Brown said, "because without consistency, it's going to show you probably can't have no trust from the coaches and everything."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Texas Tech football's Jordan Brown is living in the moment
