VERBAL SPARRING SETS UP JAGS-PATS REMATCH
News and views around the NFL, with Week 2 underway:
RAMSEY PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 FOR THE PATRIOTS?
NEWS: In his latest boasts-androasts magazine profile, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey, among other things, slammed New England tight end Rob Gronkowski.
“I don’t think Gronk’s good,” Ramsey told ESPN The Magazine in its 2018 NFL season preview. “Let me say, I don’t think Gronk is as great as people think he is. Any time Gronk has been matched up with a corner, he’s had a very bad game and that corner has had a very good game.” VIEW: The Patriots visit the Jaguars Sunday in a rematch of January’s AFC championship game that saw New England score two late touchdowns to squeeze past Jacksonville and into the Super Bowl. Normally, you’d expect the Patriots not to go there when asked about inflammatory comments by their latest opponent. But if you look at comments this week from Gronkowski and head coach Bill Belichick, you see Ramsey has inflamed GrumpNation.
Most interesting was Belichick’s answer, when asked what he has seen from Ramsey since he entered the NFL two seasons ago. Often, if Belichick likes a player, he’ll go on and on. Not this time.
“Yeah, he’s done a good job. He’s on a good defence,” Belichick said. “They have a lot of good players and he’s one of them. They’ve got a lot of them.”
NEW COACHES ARE 0-7
NEWS: All seven newly hired NFL head coaches lost their Week 1 opener. Are they that bad?
VIEW: Quick answer: Of course not. Only one of the seven debuts ought to be particularly concerning, that being Matt Patricia’s in Detroit.
We all know Oakland’s Jon Gruden can coach. Pat Shurmur has a couple of head-coaching seasons under his belt in Cleveland (2011-12) to help him navigate the stormy New York waters, while Chicago’s Matt Nagy nearly pulled off a gigantic first-game upset in Green Bay. Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel, Indianapolis’ Frank Reich and Arizona’s Steve Wilks have their concerns, but then there’s Patricia. How could his first game have gone worse? Or been more embarrassing ? A 48-17 loss in practically every phase Monday to a New York Jets team that won five games last year? Patricia apparently is instituting a drastic locker-room change. Patricia better get it figured out fast if he hopes to avoid a mutiny.