Ramsey, Beckham surprisingly subdued
JACKSONVILLE — Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey is a talker who tries to get into the heads of receivers to frustrate them.
But whatever Ramsey says during Sunday’s opener at MetLife Stadium, New York Giants star wide receiver Odell Beckham says he’s not going to baited into a verbal confrontation.
In a 2015 game against the Carolina Panthers, Beckham got into a war of words on the field with cornerback Josh Norman that led to a fight.
And Beckham said he doesn’t want to repeat his mistake.
“I think I learned my lesson,” Beckham told reporters on Wednesday in New York. “But this is probably, if not, the best or one of the best corners in the league. There’s no way around it.”
Ramsey was surprisingly lowkey on Thursday afternoon after practice, downplaying his matchup against Beckham but hyping up the importance of team.
The Jaguars are heading into their opener with enormous exbe
“A lot of people are going to try and make it about me and him. That’s not what it is about. Football is a team game, 11 guys out there for us, 11 guys out there for them.”
Jags CB Jalen Ramsey on Odell Beckham and the Giants
pectations after reaching the AFC Championship game last season. They will face a Giants team that went 3-13 but are now under new direction from first-year head coach Pat Shurmur, who served as the Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator last season.
“A lot of people are going to try and make it about me and him specifically,” Ramsey said. “That’s not what it is about. Football is a team game, 11 guys out there for us, 11 guys out there for them. We going to have to come together and do what we gotta do to try and get a win. I’m going to try and do my part. He has an all-around game in my opinion. Viewed as one of the top in the game by everyone obviously. He backs it up when he goes out there and plays — a premier player for their team, so of course that’s a fun matchup, a fun challenge that I like.”
Ramsey, however, continues to draw attention from the comments he made during a GQ interview released last month when he issued harsh evaluations for several NFL quarterbacks, including Giants’ 15-year veteran Eli Manning. Ramsey said in the interview, “I won’t say Eli’s good.”
Facing Manning and Beckham, there’s a chance Ramsey won’t enter Sunday’s game fully healthy. He was added to the team’s injury report on Thursday as a limited participant due to a sore right ankle. The Jaguars disclosed that Ramsey’s injury did not occur during practice but soreness led to limited practice work.
Behind Ramsey and A.J. Bouye, the Jaguars led the NFL in pass defense last season, limiting opponents to 169.9 yards per game. With both back leading the secondary they expect similar results starting on Sunday.
“If [Ramsey is] not 1A, he’s 1B,” Beckham said. “The only person I know like that is [Cardinals CB] Patrick Peterson. He’s what, 6-3, 215, he runs 4.30 [40-yard dash]? He’s got all the intangibles. He’s athletic and he’s just good. Like I said, he’s just one of the best in the league. He does it all.”
Beckham, who signed a five-year $95 million contract extension last month, is considered to be one of the top receivers in the league. In 46 career games, Beckham has 19 100-yard receiving games. And since 2014, Beckham’s 38 touchdown catches are the second-most in the NFL.
Jaguars safety Tashaun Gipson said they are ready for Beckham and the Giants.
“I think every thing is going to be good and we’ll be able to control on the back end,” Gipson said. “We definitely ready from the way we’ve been flying around at practice.”
Asked about their plans to limit Beckham, Gipson said they’re going to put No. 20 (Ramsey) on him.
“He’s the best, right? That’s what you do,” Gipson said.