Man of few words: Ramsey quiet amid Jags’ slide

2:02 pm | October 18, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

5:55 PM ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — How much have things changed in the wake of the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ two-game losing streak? Jalen Ramsey doesn’t have much to say.

The third-year cornerback, who was vociferous this summer while opining on 25 of the NFL’s starting quarterbacks in a GQ magazine interview, talked to reporters Thursday in a session that lasted just 1 minute, 10 seconds.

It was a repeat performance of his locker room interview following the Jaguars’ loss against the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday.

Ramsey’s longest answer Thursday was in response to a query about his thoughts regarding this weekend’s matchup with Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins at TIAA Bank Field.

“Same as it’s always been,” Ramsey said. “My past two years, y’all have asked me the same question.”

His thoughts on Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson?

“Really good,” said Ramsey, who has 21 tackles and two pass breakups this season while also battling knee soreness.

His past two interviews are certainly a departure from his normal behavior. Just last week, he responded to comments by New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who said Ramsey has more time to talk trash because he mostly plays zone coverage.

“I’ve never understood why somebody on the same side of the ball would hate on another guy,” Ramsey said last Thursday. “Usually we’re going against the opponent. Maybe I’m a threat or something. I really don’t know. … It was weird to me. It’s lame, corny. But it’s him, though.”

Two weeks ago, Ramsey was critical of Tyreek Hill after the Kansas City Chiefs receiver said Ramsey is “all right, I guess” and wanted press coverage played against him.

“I don’t like how whoever has made it a matchup, me against Tyreek,” Ramsey said then. “He’s good for what he does for their team. He made All-Pro as a return specialist — let’s get that right, as a return specialist — his rookie year. He went to two Pro Bowls as a return specialist — return specialist — two years.

“I made All-Pro in my position as a corner. Went to the Pro Bowl as a corner. So it’s not a wide receiver-versus-corner matchup, so we can get that out of the way off the bat.”

Ramsey made national news in August’s GQ interview in which he called Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen “trash” and said Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was overrated and a product of Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system. He also commented on quarterbacks Jared Goff, Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck, among others.

Those comments resulted in a lot of criticism, as did his boast in an ESPN story in August that he could make it in the NHL after six months of training, despite never having skated. Some NHL players also were not happy with his comments.

Ramsey’s reluctance to be more talkative this week may be partly related to the defense’s struggles over the past two games. The Jaguars allowed a combined 802 yards, 63 points and 49 first downs in road losses to Kansas City and Dallas.

His thoughts as to how the defense will fare this week against the Texans?

“We’ll see.”