Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey did not ask for a trade because of a sideline blowup with head coach Doug Marrone. Instead, the decision came in a postgame meeting when Ramsey said “some disrespectful things” were said to him.
In an Uninterrupted podcast with Nate Burleson, Ramsey did not allow who the meeting was with or elaborate on what was said.
Marrone said Monday that he had not had a conversation with Ramsey since the sideline spat, and none was needed. So the Pro Bowl cornerback could have been referring to General Manager Dave Caldwell or Vice President of Football Relations Tom Coughlin.
“Some disrespectful things were said on their end that made me definitely walk out and call my agent as soon as I walked out,” Ramsey told Burleson. “I said, ‘It’s time. My time is up here in Jacksonville.’ I said, ‘I want to ask for a trade.’ I was truly at peace, like I wasn’t in a mindset of making a decision while I was angry. I was completely calm. I still stand by that decision to ask for a trade.”
Ramsey angrily left the field after Marrone didn’t challenge a catch by DeAndre Hopkins that Ramsey thought hit the ground. Ramsey exchanged words with Marrone, who followed Ramsey to the bench area.
Jarrod Wilson and D.J. Hayden stepped between Marrone and Ramsey before Ronnie Harrison escorted Marrone back toward the sideline and away from the bench area.
Ramsey had four tackles and a pass breakup. He dropped an interception, but he held Hopkins to five catches for 40 yards, with a long of 14.
During his media access this week, Ramsey would not reveal why he wanted the Jaguars to trade him. He explained in more detail to Burleson.
“I called my agent after the game,” Ramsey said. “After the game, of course, it was tough in the locker room already. The 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, man. That’s passion and emotion. I feel like that got blew up a little more than it should have. That happened early in the first quarter, and I went out the rest of the game and you can see the production that I put out there on the field — what I held Hop to and how the whole defense played. And honestly, it was just the moment; it was the incident; and honestly, we were kind of moving past it.”
Ramsey admits the trade request “was something that has kind of been building over a little bit of time.”
“It has nothing to do with my teammates here. I love all my teammates here,” Ramsey said. “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 it may be. I love the city here. I love my teammates. But it was more so with the front office and the organization.”
He said he wants “to be in a place where they know I’m the best corner in the game and let me play and help the team get wins.”
That could happen as soon as Friday.
The Jaguars would have had to pay Ramsey’s salary of $213,778 this week if they had traded him after 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, even if he were playing on another team, Michael DiRocco of ESPN reports. So Ramsey will play for the Jaguars tonight against the Titans in what could be his final game for the Jaguars.