We have #BreakingNews out of Jacksonville: Jalen Ramsey is NOT talking trash.
The loquacious, self-confident, fearless Jaguars cornerback heads into Sunday's tilt versus the Pittsburgh Steelers not throwing shade, but rather talking venerably about covering All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown.
"Great opportunity to see what I can do," Ramsey said of facing Brown, via The Florida Times-Union. "He's an elite player, you know highly regarded by everybody honestly around the nation, maybe internationally. So yes, it's going to be a challenge. We're going have to be on our Ps and Qs and try to execute the game plan the best we can."
The Jaguars' secondary won the battle in a Week 5 whitewash that saw Jacksonville intercept Ben Roethlisberger five times.
In the October matchup, Brown earned 157 yards on 10 receptions. Those numbers pop off the page. Brown also needed 19 targets to earn his yardage, and Big Ben suffered three INTs forcing the ball his way.
When lined up against Ramsey, Brown caught four of seven passes for 91 yards, with two passes intercepted (one by Ramsey), and a 62.2 passer rating. A.J. Bouye enjoyed more success covering the unanimous All-Pro receiver: seven targets, one reception, 18 yards, INT, 0.0 passer rating.
Even with Brown coming off a calf injury that forced him to sit out the final two weeks of the season, the Jaguars are expecting the NFL's best receiver to be at full force. The battle between Brown and a smothering secondary will be one of the highlights of the Divisional Round.
"It's going to be a heck of a battle between Jalen and Antonio and I'll be glad to witness it," Jags safety Barry Church said. "Any receiver we played against up to now has nothing on [Brown] because of his quickness and ability to run routes. His ability to run after catches is second to none. No matter where we [safeties] are we have to be aware of him, deep."
