Ramsey defends his coverage skills after Patriots corner calls him a 'zone guy'
Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey has verbally ripped quarterbacks, negatively called out receivers and has emerged as one of the biggest trash talkers in the NFL.
Still, Ramsey says he never makes disparaging comments about other cornerbacks in the league.
Apparently, New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore doesn’t feel the same way.
He dismissed Ramsey as being a cornerback that mostly plays zone during an interview Wednesday on a Boston radio station. The Patriots play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and Gilmore will be matched against wide receiver Tyreek Hill, whom Ramsey covered during last week's 30-14 loss at Arrowhead Stadium.
"I never understood why someone on the same side of the ball would hate another guy," said Ramsey, who was added to Thursday's injury report with a knee injury that forced to be limited during practice. "I’m going to continue to do what the team asks for me to do, either man or zone. Maybe he should try it also — I’m All-Pro. Maybe I’m a threat or something. It’s lame, it’s corny. But that’s him, though. I play a good mix of both. I think everybody knows that."
Gilmore cited Ramsey’s personality and said it wasn’t his style before adding that he finds "a lot of guys that talk are mostly zone guys so they have a lot of energy to do that."
Ramsey acknowledged that CBS analyst Tony Romo, who called the Jaguars-Chiefs game, was accurate when he stated during the broadcast that Ramsey looked tired.
On a few occasions, Ramsey noticeably backed off on his coverage on Hill, allowing roughly a 12-yard cushion between them at the line of scrimmage. However, Ramsey won some of the battles.
Hill finished with four catches for 61 yards, including a 36-yard catch when he beat Ramsey in press coverage.
"I was tired," Ramsey said. "After the New York [Giants] this year, we got back on that Monday and they told me, according to my stats and all that, they told me that was the most I’ve ever ran in a game since I’ve been in the league.
"It was tough chasing Odell [Beckham] everywhere. Going back to last week it was more less the same, chasing him [Hill] around everywhere and he’s the fastest guy in the league. It felt like a track meet and I love track."
Ramsey responded to a challenge from Hill ahead of the game, who said that Ramsey "thinks high of himself and hoped that he would press him."
Ramsey finished with four tackles but no pass breakups or interceptions.
After five games, Ramsey still doesn’t have an interception and only one pass breakup that came in Week 4 against the New York Jets. Now, the Dallas Cowboys are next, the franchise that selected running back Ezekiel Elliott ahead of Ramsey with the fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft before he was taken as the next pick by the Jaguars.
"Jalen has been playing solid," defensive coordinator Todd Wash said. "Obviously, he had one deep pass on him last week. Other than that, there were a couple of passes where there was a miscommunication between myself and the huddle call, but we weren’t up in press. He doesn’t get attacked a lot and when he does he playing well."