EAGAN, Minn. – Just days after he was suspended for shouting down reporters, Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey was quoted in a GQ article where he defended Blake Bortles and pulled no punches when sharing his opinion on other quarterbacks.
Among the quarterbacks he criticized were Matt Ryan of the Falcons, rookie Josh Allen of the Bills and the Ravens' Joe Flacco.
Because of the suspension, Ramsey did not travel with the team to Minnesota for Saturday's preseason game or the preceding days of combined practices with the Vikings. That left Ramsey's teammates to answer questions about the interview.
Fellow Pro Bowler Calais Campbell wasn't fazed by Ramsey's comments and said that he didn't expect opposing teams would be more motivated against the Jaguars because of them.
"It is just one of those things where he has opinions. He likes voicing them and it makes him a special guy. I love how authentic he is. He does not beat around the bush at all," Campbell said. "Some of those guys might try to play their best games against us, but that is how it is supposed to be anyways. We have a bull's-eye on our back. When you go to the championship game, you are a good team and everybody tries to play their A-game against you already."
In the interview, Ramsey said that the Jaguars' coaches should have trusted Blake Bortles more in the AFC championship game. Bortles, like Campbell, didn't flinch when asked about Ramsey's strong comments.
"A lot of stuff has been said about me and it never affected me," Bortles said. "I imagine most of the guys that were mentioned in some of that stuff probably brushed it off. If they took it to heart or whatever, they probably have bigger problems than that."
Campbell voiced his support of Ramsey, as he always does for teammates.
"We will be rallying behind him and playing hard together and hopefully, we can make him look like he knows what he is talking about," Campbell said.
Among the quarterbacks who were praised by Ramsey was Minnesota's Kirk Cousins, about whom Ramsey said, "I think he's good. I think he's a winner. He's a hell of a competitor. Coming off the play action, he's the best quarterback in the league. Play-action passing, he's a hell of a quarterback."