Jaguars' Jalen Ramsey Says He Won't Rip Opposing QBs: 'It's a Different Me'
June 24, 2019
Jalen Ramsey's days of ripping opposing quarterbacks have come to an end.
The Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback appeared on The Adam Schefter Podcast and said he's grown past putting quarterbacks around the league on blast:
Last offseason, Ramsey had something to say about quite a few quarterbacks around the league during an interview with Clay Skipper of GQ.
He called Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen "trash" before Allen had so much as played an NFL game.
"I don't care what nobody say. He's trash," Ramsey said. "And it's gonna show too. That's a stupid draft pick to me. We play them this year, and I'm excited as hell. I hope he's their starting quarterback."
He said Joe Flacco "sucks." In talking about Eli Manning, he said, "I won't say Eli's good, I'll say [Odell Beckham Jr.'s] good." Ben Roethlisberger was "decent at best... It's not Big Ben, it's [Antonio Brown]."
Andrew Luck? "I don't really think he's that good." Matt Ryan? "Overrated."
Ramsey was actually highly complimentary of a number of quarterbacks in that article, but it was his critiques that made headlines. And then the Jaguars followed up a trip to the AFC Championship Game in the 2017 season with a disappointing and dysfunctional 5-11 season last year, arguably the biggest letdown in the NFL given the team's Super Bowl aspirations.
The 24-year-old Ramsey—who had been one of the most dominant cornerbacks in his first three seasons—took a step back, too. He registered 62 tackles and three interceptions, though his grade of 72.8 from Pro Football Focus was just 28th amongst cornerbacks.
As PFF's Mike Renner wrote, "[Ramsey] had fewer picks (3), pass breakups (9), allowed more yards (749), allowed a higher completion percentage (54.6) and allowed a higher passer rating (73.8)" than he did in 2017.
It's hard to imagine Ramsey lost his swagger. He remains an excellent cornerback. But the disappointing 2018 season may have been a bit humbling for him and his teammates, and Ramsey may let his play do a bit more of the talking this year. At the very least, don't expect to hear him taking shots at quarterbacks around the league any longer.