Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey had quite a bit to say about NFL quarterbacks around the league in an August interview with GQ magazine. In his critique of signal-callers around the league, Ramsey let it be known that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger isn’t all that in his own eyes and that it’s essentially his wide receivers that make him look so good.
“Big Ben [Roethlisberger], I think he’s decent at best… It’s not Big Ben, it’s [Antonio Brown],” Ramsey said in his magazine interview. “Big Ben slings the ball a lot of the time. He just slings it, and his receivers go get it. He has a strong arm, but he ain’t all that. I played him twice last year, and he really disappointed me. He’ll be in the Hall of Fame and all that.”
With the Steelers now preparing to play the Jaguars this Sunday in Jacksonville, Roethlisberger was asked on Wednesday if he has the comments made by Ramsey hung up on his personally bulletin board.
“Nope, don’t need to,” Roethlisberger said.
Roethlisberger was earlier asked during his Wednesday locker room media session if he likes to attack a cornerback like Ramsey, or if he’s the kind of player he tries to avoid throwing at. In short, he was asked how likes to go about treating a player such as Ramsey, who only has one interception so far this season.
“With respect,” Roethlisberger said. “He’s, like I said, a great football player. He’s got all the tools. He’s a guy that you have to understand where he is and who he’s covering and be smart. I am not going to fear anybody, I don’t care who they are, but you respect it for sure.”
While Roethlisberger admitted on Wednesday that the Jaguars defense is still very much like the one that the Steelers played and lost to twice last season, he also let it be known that Ramsey is being moved around on the field so far this season.
“They’ll do some stuff like move him to safety depending on their defensive package, but it seems like it doesn’t matter what the coverage is, he is up pressing man-to-man,” Roethlisberger said. “It could be third, cover-3, which is supposed to be a zone, he’s got the thirds, and he wants to come up and press and get his hands on you. He’s a combative DB who has great ball skills and great speed. So, when you have all of those things you are able to do that.”
For as good of a cornerback that Ramsey is, Roethlisberger did have some success throwing at him last season in both games the Steelers played against the Jaguars. Sunday in Jacksonville, Roethlisberger might not have to throw at Ramsey as much, however, as the Jaguars other starting cornerback A.J. Bouye might not be ready to return from his calf injury that has sidelined him the last two games. Even if Bouye does manage to play on Sunday, Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown had his way against him in last year’s playoff game between the two teams.
Even though he’s not going to admit it, you must know that Roethlisberger is looking forward to playing against the Jaguars and Ramsey on Sunday. If Roethlisberger has a good game that includes him beating Ramsey with a few passes, I would look for to him to make some sort of reference to what the Jaguars cornerback said about him in his magazine interview over the summer when he talks to the media after the contest has ended. In short, Roethlisberger might not respect Ramsey as much after Sunday’s game is over.
