JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — These accomplished, um, matured Seattle Seahawks don’t play many games anymore where trash talking is a primary story. Especially now that chatty cornerback Richard Sherman is out for the year.
Then again, they rarely play Jalen Ramsey and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
That’s who Seattle has this weekend. And that means Ramsey is talking.
Of course he is.
“No disrespect to (Doug Baldwin). He’s a good player,” the Jaguars’ quipping, second-year standout cornerback told reporters in Jacksonville on Wednesday.
“But he ain’t Larry Fitzgerald.”
OK.
So does that mean Ramsey will be yapping at Baldwin more when the Seahawks (8-4) play the up-and-coming Jaguars (8-4) in Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon, more than Ramsey chirped at the Cardinals’ legendary receiver two weeks ago in Arizona?
“We’ll see,” he said.
Odds are that will be a “yes” on Sunday.
The Jaguars are tied with Tennessee for first in the AFC South. They haven’t been in playoff contention in December since 2010.
Ramsey is a big, loud reason why.
Jacksonville’s fifth-overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Florida State is second in the league with 16 passes defensed this season. He’s shadowed and shut down some of the league’s best receivers:
— DeAndre Hopkins, Houston: three receptions, 23 yards against Ramsey.
— Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh: six catches, 89 yards against Ramsey.
— T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis: two catches, 27 yards; then last week three catches, 51 yards and a touchdown past Ramsey in zone coverage.
— A.J. Green, Cincinnati: one catch, 6 yards; he and Ramsey both ejected near the end of first half for fighting.
— Fitzgerald, Arizona: three catches, 12 yards, five incomplete passes.
And Ramsey may be first in the league in trash talking.
“For sure, Jalen is in a league by himself when it comes to that type of stuff,” Jaguars safety Tashaun Gipson told reporters in Jacksonville according to Gene Frenette, a columnist with The Florida Times-Union.
Last month, Green got so sick of hearing from Ramsey and getting pushed by him after whistles, Cincinnati’s star receiver picked up Ramsey and body slammed him at the end of a running play nowhere near them.
Green got ejected and a $42,000 fine from the NFL for that. Ramsey’s Jaguars got a 24-7 win. It was another in a season of smashing performances by Ramsey and the Jaguars. They lead the league in pass defense, total defense, points allowed and passes defensed.
Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell remembers Ramsey’s public spat with Baltimore receiver Steve Smith Sr. last season. After that Jaguars game against the Ravens, Ramsey, then a rookie, said of Smith, a possible future Hall of Famer: “I don’t respect him as a man.”
“He’s usually — always — involved,” Maxwell said of Ramsey, with a laugh.
Ramsey often follows the top wide receiver for each Jaguars’ opponent. That means he will likely be shadowing Baldwin on Sunday.
Baldwin chuckled when reminded of Green slamming Ramsey.
Is he expecting Ramsey to bait him and try to get into his head?
“I don’t know,” Baldwin said. “Honestly, when I go into games it doesn’t really matter who I’m playing against. I’m really focused on me. I have to. That’s the only way I know how to do it. So, focus on my details and my assignment, and then we’ll see what happens.
“I know that he is a very talented player. He’s been in some situations, but I just think that’s the competitive nature. When you have an extremely competitive guy he’s going to try to find any edge that he can. So I tip my hat to him, in that regard.
“But from that standpoint, I have to focus on me and my preparation for this week.”
In truth, Baldwin has been prepared for trash talk from Ramsey and all defensive backs for, oh, the last decade. He’s gotten it on just about every one of his football days from Sherman. The only reason that’s stopped lately is because Sherman, his former Stanford teammate, got an Achilles injury last month that ended his Seahawks season.
“Yeah. Sherm. Brandon Browner. Maxwell. I’ve had a number of guys who have given me that test for a number of years,” Baldwin deadpanned.
“So I think I’ll be ready. I’ll be as prepared as I can be.”
Earlier in his career, “Angry Doug” Baldwin was liable to engage in trash talk with Ramsey. With anyone. Now, at age 29 with seven seasons of becoming one of the NFL’s top receivers with the security and peace of mind of signing a $46 million contract extension last year, Baldwin generally stays above most frays with foes on and off the field.
Gipson played against Baldwin in 2015, when Gipson was with Cleveland playing at Seattle. He noted that Baldwin didn’t talk much at all that day.
Then again, Baldwin was busy that day against Gipson’s Browns, catching two touchdown passes on six targets from Russell Wilson in the Seahawks’ 30-13 win.
“He’s a pro’s pro. He didn’t do much chit-chatting when I played him before,” Gipson said. “That wasn’t part of his game in 2015. Maybe things have changed.
“I don’t know how much Doug Baldwin talks back. I know Jalen, he does it to everybody, no matter the opponent. He does that every game and fills the secondary with some sort of juice, some magical juice, that gets us going. Once he gets the noise talking, there’s a trickle-down effect.”
The Seahawks’ offense has Wilson. He affects everything.
And the Jaguars are coming after him.
Jacksonville’s front seven and especially lineman Calais Campbell (re-born from his Arizona Cardinals days with 12½ sacks this season) usually get pressure on quarterbacks by themselves.
Jacksonville follows the time-tested Seahawks style that got them to consecutive Super Bowls in the 2013 and ‘14 seasons: tight, press coverage with aggressive, young cornerbacks Ramsey and A.J. Bouye, behind a front four that consistently forces QBs to throw earlier than they want to, to covered receivers.
Asked if the Jaguars remind him of his Seahawks of recent past, All-Pro middle linebacker Bobby Wagner shook his head.
“Nah,” Wagner said. “There’s only one Seattle Seahawks.”
Still, Wilson knows how big Ramsey’s play — if not his talk — is to Sunday’s game.
“He’s really special,” Wilson said. “He’s going to be a great one for a long, long time. … He’s got unbelievable speed; it looks like he’s not even running, how fast he’s run.”
The former North Carolina State quarterback said Ramsey’s been a favorite of his back to watching his college games in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“He’s a true superstar,” Wilson said. “It’s cool to play great guys like that. You’ve got to know where he is, that’s for sure.”
Gipson told reporters in Jacksonville this past week he and Ramsey are “more of the talkers” in Jacksonville’s secondary, compared to Barry Church and Bouye.
“We just all feed off each other. I’ve definitely seen him get a guy rattled. I know it’s my job to kind of push him over the top. Jalen did all the hard work. I know he’s going to continue to keep the chatter going.
“I don’t know how Doug Baldwin might react. But if he reacts how Jalen wants him to, then it’s going to be a long game for him.”
Chances are, Baldwin’s going to react to Ramsey the way Baldwin wants to.
Either way, it’s going to be the most fun show within the show on Sunday.
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