The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Gronk ‘ready for anything’ after Ramsey’s comments
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jalen Ramsey has approached trash talking — both dishing it out and receiving it — with open arms for most of his football career.
When initiating it he’s been an equal opportunity offender, even when his words were aimed at possibly two of the best players to ever play their respective positions.
Ramsey sent ripples across the league last month when he was asked by ESPN The Magazine for his opinion of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and said: “I don’t think Gronk is as great as people think he is.”
The comments came months after the Jaguars’ 24-20 loss to the Patriots in last season’s AFC championship game, in which Gronkowski caught only one pass before being knocked out of the game with a concussion in the first half.
That same game also saw Ramsey briefly exchange words with reigning MVP Tom Brady during pregame warm-ups.
It’s all added extra fuel to the
budding rivalry as New England prepares to visit Jacksonville on Sunday.
“If that’s how he feels, that’s how he feels,” Gronkowski said Wednesday. “It’s a big game. … I’m sure I’m gonna have opportunities go against him. And I’m sure he’s gonna have opportunities to go against me.”
For his part, Ramsey has never backed down from his comments.
“I don’t live my life with regrets, man. Things happen. I said what I said,” Ramsey said after his comments went viral.
“I love the competitiveness. I love the trash talking. I love the challenge. I love literally everything about the game, so I have no regrets. … Hey, I’m me: Unapologetic.”
Ramsey’s teammates said his often-biting words are
what make Ramsey the player he is.
Trash talking is “part of his game,” defensive lineman Calais Campbell said.
“I tell him all the time ‘Man, hey, whatever you do just make sure that we’re gonna back you up…We’re gonna be there for you,’ ” Campbell said. “But I have nothing but confidence in Jalen. He’s a very smart guy … Very passionate. So I won’t ever try to contain somebody and not let him be himself.”
Ramsey was a first-team All-Pro in his second year in the league last season, but had a relatively quiet AFC title game against New England. He finished with just two tackles as Brady engineered late-game heroics to erase a 10-point fourthquarter deficit.
Ramsey said recently that he thinks the biggest reason for the Jaguars losing that game was that they became too conservative.