JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the first time this preseason, the Jaguars will have at least one of their starting cornerbacks ready for live action as Jalen Ramsey is set to return this Thursday against the Carolina Panthers in week 3 of the preseason.
The 2nd-year pro from Florida State has been sidelined throughout OTA's and minicamp due to surgery he had on a core muscle on June 16th. Ramsey came off the physically unable to perform list less than two months later and says that he is ready to go, even though he is not at 100 percent.
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"I would say that I am at about 90 percent of where I want to be," said Ramsey in the locker room after practice on Tuesday. "I am a little sore just because I haven't been doing much, I went full yesterday and today though. I have to get a little more explosiveness back but speed is good, conditioning is good, so just knocking off the rust and getting back to 100 percent is the goal."
Ramsey figures to face an old friend on Thursday when the Panthers come to town. Former Seminole teammate wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin is expected to start for Carolina when they play the Jaguars.
"It will be cool," said Ramsey. "I haven't been up against him since practice my freshman year in college. He (Benjamin) is a big dude, definitely a playmaker and a ballplayer, so it should be fun."
Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone mentioned in his post-practice news conference that he feels better about Ramsey playing on Thursday than his cornerback counterpart A.J. Bouye.
"I can say this, I feel good about seeing Jalen on Thursday. We are very exited about that. I can come out here and say that I feel good that he will play. Without anything happening between now and the game, he should be playing."
The Jaguars and the Panthers kick off at 7PM Thursday night at EverBank Field in the Jaguars final home preseason game.