JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jalen Ramsey’s dissatisfaction with the Jacksonville Jaguars front office over the past several seasons is what led him to request a trade after last Sunday’s game at Houston.
In the latest episode of Uninterrupted’s “17 Weeks” podcast, Ramsey said an upsetting conversation he had with Jaguars management (he did not specify who) after the loss to the Texans was the final push that made up his mind that he wanted to leave the team that drafted him fifth overall in 2016. He did not single out head coach Doug Marrone after their disagreement on the sideline in Houston.
“Some disrespectful things were said on their end that made me definitely walk out and call my agent as soon as I walked out and I told him, I said, ‘It’s time; my time is up here in Jacksonville. I want to ask for a trade,'” Ramsey said. “I was truly at peace. I wasn’t in a mindset of making a decision while I was angry; I was completely calm. I still stand by my decision to ask for a trade.”
Ramsey is expected to play in Thursday night’s game against Tennessee (he was not one of the seven inactives) and a source told ESPN’s Josina Anderson earlier on Thursday that Ramsey expects to be traded before the Jaguars’ next game Sept. 29 at Denver. Anderson also reported that Kansas City, Baltimore, Minnesota, Oakland, Philadelphia and Seattle have made substantive inquiries, and almost every team has at least placed a call.
Ramsey also wants a new contract. He said in the offseason that the Jaguars weren’t going to get a hometown discount after they told him they were not going to work on a contract extension for him this season. Ramsey, who showed up to training camp in a Brinks truck, is in the fourth year of his rookie contract and the team has picked up his fifth-year option for 2020.
“Requesting the trade was something that’s been building over a little bit of time,” Ramsey said on the podcast. “It has nothing to do with my teammates here, I love my teammates here. It has nothing to do with the city, I love the city here. Still doing my charity work here, still out with the fans, signing autographs, taking pictures, whatever. I love the city here, I love my teammates, but it’s more so with the front office and the organization.”
Ramsey has a bit of a history of being publicly critical of the organization. He and fellow defensive backs Tashaun Gipson and Davon House were unhappy with the way they were used during the 2016 season. Ramsey, who was a rookie that year, and Gipson complained of being limited by the scheme and Ramsey also advocated a clean sweep of the defensive coaching staff.
Ramsey also was critical of the team’s defensive calls in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship game against New England after the 2017 season.
In addition, Ramsey ripped numerous NFL quarterbacks in a piece that ran in GQ Magazine in August 2018. That piece ran after Ramsey was suspended for a week after he went on a profane rant against members of the media who were filming a post-practice altercation between Dante Fowler Jr. and Yannick Ngakoue during training camp. Ramsey also sent a tweet threatening war with the media.
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Max Kellerman has no problem with Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey asking for a trade because you can’t force a player to want to be there.
The latest incident was his sideline outburst with Marrone, which was caught by CBS cameras, during the 13-12 loss at Houston. Ramsey yelled at Marrone on the field because he was upset that Marrone did not challenge a completion to Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Ramsey continued to yell at Marrone as he walked by on the sideline and moments later players and coaches had to get between Ramsey and Marrone near the bench.
Marrone said earlier this week that he spoke with Ramsey about the incident and they have moved past it. Ramsey said the same thing on the podcast.
“After the game, of course it was tough in the locker room already,” he said. “There had been an incident on the sideline with me and coach. I didn’t think much of that in particular because that happens from time to time. That happens all across the league. We see Tom Brady get into it with his coaches and he’s the greatest of all time. That’s just passion. That’s passion and emotion and I feel like that got blew up a little bit more than it should have.
“That happened early in the first quarter and I went out the rest of the game and you could see the production I put out there on the field. What I held [Hopkins] to (40 yards on five catches), how the whole defense played, honestly. It was just the moment, it was just the incident and honestly we were kind of moved past it.”