Jaylinn Hawkins arrived in Baltimore with more than a new contract. He brought the kind of steadying presence the Ravens have been looking for in the back end, plus a little extra bounce on the sideline.
The Ravens signed Hawkins on March 12 to a two-year, $10 million deal, and he stepped right into a key role next to second-year starting safety Malaki Starks. That move has given Pro Bowler Kyle Hamilton more freedom to roam, which is the role he has thrived in throughout his career. Around the building, Hawkins has already stood out for his communication, his knowledge and the kind of energy that shows up whether he’s dancing on the sideline or flying around in practice.
“He’s hungrier now than ever to get back to the Super Bowl,” Jayda said.
Hawkins’ path to Baltimore runs through California, Atlanta and New England, with a Pilates detour that turned into part of his routine and, eventually, part of his game. He and his wife, Jayda, met at the University of California, where she noticed his presence long before she knew him well. Her first impression came in the gym, where his energy made him impossible to miss.
“Everyone knew him,” Jayda said. “He was really just always laughing. Everyone wanted to be around him.”
They stayed friends through college, then grew closer while Hawkins attended meetings of the Black student-athlete committee, where Jayda served on the board. She wasn’t a football obsessive, but she couldn’t ignore what she saw on Saturdays.
“Every single time I would go to a football game, Jaylinn got an interception,” Jayda said. “And they were always like crazy interceptions.”
After college, Hawkins was 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 began dating. Two years after graduation, she joined him there.
That transition came at a different point for each of them. Hawkins was moving deeper into pro football. Jayda was moving away from elite athletics after her volleyball career ended.
“It’s so tough, like, I feel like your relationship with working out just completely changes,” Jayda said. “And then being with someone who’s still so heavily in it is a whole other thing, because you see how much they’re putting into it, but you don’t have anything that you’re necessarily working for from a performance standpoint. You’re just working out for health and wellness.”
Pilates became the bridge. Jayda got into it first, then Hawkins tried it and quickly felt the benefits.
Jayda went on to become a certified instructor. Hawkins said the work helped him in the places that matter most for a defensive back.
“Durability, movement and just the way my core was connected to everything whenever I’m twisting, turning and getting out of a break, I just felt more explosive and more stable,” Jaylinn said.
The two also spend plenty of time together studying football. Jayda has learned the game through Hawkins’ eyes, and that now includes film sessions at home.
“Jaylinn likes showing me everything when he comes home from practice,” Jayda said. “He’ll show me plays from practice where he feels like he messed up, where he feels like he did good.”
Hawkins’ own NFL journey has had its share of bumps. He started 16 games in his third year with Atlanta, then started none the next season before being waived.
The Chargers claimed him, but he started only three games there. In New England, he landed on a struggling Patriots team and watched coach Jerod Mayo get fired.
Then came the turnaround. Under Mike Vrabel, Hawkins got his best season, started every game he played and reached the playoffs for the first time. He even added a Super Bowl interception to his resume.
That run helped shape how he viewed free agency. When the Ravens came calling, Hawkins was already interested. He checked in on Jesse Minter, liked what he heard and liked the film even more.
“Just the way he just places different players to play to their strengths,” Jaylinn said. “He’s very unique and very dope, and it’s a good team-coordinated defensive structure. You hardly see anybody out of position, you hardly see any leaks or anything in coverages, so that’s very unique to me.”
The Ravens also made sense for the same reason Baltimore made sense to Hawkins as a player and as a person: a place where he could win and feel good doing it. Even after the Patriots’ late-season win in Baltimore last December - a game in which Hawkins stood on the sideline and came away impressed by the Ravens’ defense - he still thought of Baltimore as a destination.
In that game, the Patriots beat the Ravens 28-24, and New England’s season ended with a Super Bowl loss to former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s Seattle Seahawks. Baltimore, meanwhile, missed the playoffs and entered its first coaching search in 18 years.
Hawkins watched that Ravens defense and came away with respect.
“Like, this defense is nice,” Hawkins recalled thinking. “From the D-line, from the front seven to the back end, I’m like, ‘Man, they got boys all over.’”
Now he’s part of it, and teammates have noticed how quickly he’s settled in. Kyle Hamilton said Hawkins has been barking out calls like a veteran who has been in Baltimore for years.
“Jaylinn Hawkins comes in, and he is barking out calls like he has been here the whole time that I have been here,” Hamilton said. “It 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.”
Hawkins didn’t play in preseason games, so there’s still some mystery around exactly how he’ll be deployed. What is clear from practice is that he’s been aggressive without giving up big plays, and he’s already had his moments, including memorable one-on-one wins over tight end Mark Andrews.
For Hawkins, the assignment is bigger than just filling a spot. He wants to bring some of the same calm, winning energy that helped define his best stretch in New England, while helping stabilize a Ravens secondary that has had trouble early in recent seasons.
“I’m the guy who’s going to be playing for y’all, who’s going to be out there trying to win for y’all,” Hawkins said. “The city is important, man, and it’s nothing like winning when the city is turned up. Like, that is an amazing thing, and when they’re working hand in hand, there ain’t nothing more powerful.”
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