Jalen Ramsey famously called Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen "trash" during the offseason.
The "trash" QB then went out and beat Ramsey's Jacksonville Jaguars 24-21 Sunday.
"He did enough to get their team the win," Ramsey said after the game, via ESPN. "I don't really know the stats. I know he ran the ball really well. He hurt us with his feet. Passing, it didn't really feel like a lot of opportunities. We have to watch the film. They did have one deep one on us early that hurt us in the first quarter.
"Other than that he was causing damage with his feet."
Allen made more consistent plays with his legs than his arm in a return from injury. The rookie quarterback completed just 8 of 19 passes for 160 yards one touchdown and zero interceptions for an 89.8 passer rating. Of the 160 passing yards, 75 came on a gorgeous, strong-armed touchdown toss from Allen to receiver Robert Foster.
Allen also dashed for 99 rushing yards and one scamper score. According to ELIAS, Allen became one of six players in NFL history to run for at least 75 yards and a TD and also threw a TD pass of at least 75 yards in a game. Others: Charlie Trippi (1951), Tom Yewcic (1962), Bobby Douglass (1972), Mike Vick (2010) and Russell Wilson (2014). Allen is the first rookie in NFL history to produce such a performance.
"There was a lot of trash-talking, before and after," Allen said. "But ultimately my job is to go out there and help this team win football games."
When Allen did throw, he wasn't shy about taking shots. According to Next Gen Stats, in Week 12 versus Jacksonville, Allen threw further downfield per attempt than any QB since 2016 (min. 14 attempts). Allen's 18.3 air yards/attempt is nearly 1.5 yards more than the next closest mark (Ben Roethlisberger in 2016 with 16.9 air yards/attempt).
It remains to be seen whether Allen leading his team to victory will change Ramsey's opinion of the young QB (prediction: doubtful).
"The good thing about the world we live in is everyone can have an opinion," Ramsey said. "I stick by my opinions usually. He did enough for the team to get a win and that's really what matters at the end of the day. It doesn't matter what I said. I'm sure that's what he was thinking on his side.
"You can have opinions, but it's about what you go out there and do, and what he did was go out there for his team and get a win."
