Stats talk; Robinson, Ramsey don’t
For a man known for his loose lips, a brash playmaker featured in a series of video compilations highlighting his onfield trash talk, Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey didn’t have a ton to say about his upcoming battle Sunday night.
Any thoughts on Bears receiver Allen Robinson?
“I say it every week: It’s not about who I am going against, it’s about me,” Ramsey said Thursday. “But he can make plays for sure. He’s explosive. He can go up and get the ball. Their favorite target, of course. Physical. Yeah, he can make plays.”
Anything specific in Robinson’s skill set that makes him difficult to defend?
“I haven’t covered him yet,” Ramsey said. “So I couldn’t tell you. Like I said, he’s a good receiver and we’re going to see how it goes on Sunday. … I haven’t played him in a game. So I don’t want to speak on something that I don’t really know about, to be honest.”
Ramsey and Robinson were teammates with the Jaguars in 2016 and 2017 and had their share of battles in practice. But Sunday will be a different stage. Prime time. “Sunday Night Football.” And Ramsey’s goal is to make sure NBC commentators Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth don’t say Robinson’s name much.
Robinson is eager for the test.
“It’s going to be physical,” he said. “It’s going to be competitive. It’s going to be fun. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
From their time in Jacksonville, Robinson came to respect Ramsey’s aggressiveness.
“With him being a longer corner, at some of the catch points, he tries to be a little bit more physical,” Robinson said. “He’s a physical tackler. It’s some of the little nuances. If you catch the ball near the sideline, you know he’s going to be physical.”
As for the inevitable back-and-forth chatter?
“Again, for me, each Sunday is a little different,” Robinson said. “I talk. He talks. It’ll be fun.”
The Jaguars traded Ramsey to the Rams in mid-October, and he still is getting acclimated to his new defense and responsibilities. Still, even as he searches for his first interception of 2019, there’s a sense that his arrival has given the Rams defense a new edge.
“I would hope so,” Ramsey said. “I play with a lot of passion and heart when I’m out there. I hope that’s contagious not only with the secondary but with everybody.
“And regardless of what the stats may say, my production has been — I know that once you throw on the film and watch the film and people who know about football and actually watch the games, they can clearly see that I only get two targets a game. If that. So basically what that tells you is usually I’m taking the quarterback off his first read. Right? Now the quarterback has to hold the ball a little bit longer.”
Robinson is the Bears’ leading receiver and quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s favorite target, so Sunday’s matchup should prove intriguing. The final stats will tell a story. Both players almost certainly will have more to say.