FOXBORO -- Stephon Gilmore let it be known that maybe part of the reason Jalen Ramsey is so talkative is that perhaps he has extra energy. Why the extra energy? Because his defense in Jacksonville plays a lot of zone.
The implication from Gilmore was, when he spoke to 98.5 The Sports Hub on Wednesday, that zone corners have it easier than man-to-man corners do. The Patriots play both but have been one of the heaviest man-coverage teams in football since early last season.
Ramsey responded Thursday.
"I mean we know that’s the furthest [thing] from the truth. But I mean, I’m gonna continue to do what the team asks me to do, either man or zone," Ramsey said. "I mean, maybe he should try it. I was All-Pro. But it’s cool though."
Gilmore is as soft-spoken a player as there is in the Patriots locker room, but on this, he's been pretty clear: He considers himself a man-to-man corner who can play zone. Shutting down a particular assignment in a game, a series, or even one play, is what separates the best of the best at his position.
So to talk trash as someone who plays zone, Gilmore intimated, is a little misleading.
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“It’s funny,” Gilmore told me earlier this week. “A lot of people can talk but you’ve gotta back it up — which he does. Sometimes. It is what it is. A lot of guys that talk, that’s just their personality or that’s just how they is.
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“I feel like a lot of people that talk like that, they’ve got a lot of energy because they’re playing . . . that’s just how they is.”
Play . . . what now? Zone, he told the "Zolak and Bertrand" program on Wednesday.
"It’s his personality," Gilmore told them. "That’s not my style, but I find a lot of guys that talk are mostly zone guys so they have a lot of energy to do that."
Ramsey reacted as though someone he didn't know came across the playground and poked him in the chest for a reason he didn't understand.
"I’ve never understood why, you know, somebody on the same side of the ball would hate on another guy," Ramsey said. "Like, usually we’re going against the opponent. But, maybe I’m a threat or something."
Ramsey added: "It's weird to me. It’s lame, corny, but it’s him though."
Surprisingly Ramsey didn't reference the fact that the Jaguars beat the Patriots back in Week 2 (at least according to the video tweeted by the AP). Felt like an opportune time for a "SCOREBOARD!" comeback. Alas. Maybe they'll see each other again in three months.