Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey thinks Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is “not as great as people think he is”

The New England Patriots under head coach Bill Belichick run the tightest ship in the NFL. Rarely ever does one of the team’s players talk negatively about an opponent or people outside of the organization. This approach has served the team quite well over the years – the Patriots are far and away the most successful team in the league since Belichick took over – but it is not one copied throughout the league.Enter the Jacksonville Jaguars and their star cornerback Jalen Ramsey. One of the most outspoken players in all of football Limited Duron Harmon Jersey , Ramsey does not shy away from expressing his opinions. He recently made headlines when he shared his feelings on some of the league’s starting quarterbacks, and two weeks later is at it again: in a recent portrait by ESPN’s Mina Kimes the 23-year old spoke about multiple players.One of his favorite topics? The aforementioned Patriots, who eliminated Ramsey and the Jaguars from last year’s playoff tournament. The two teams’ meeting in the championship round was of course a thriller; one that saw New England erase a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to punch their eighth Super Bowl ticket. According to Ramsey, however, the Patriots’ comeback was not just due to the team playing its best in the clutch.“It was clear as day they wanted them to win,” the Jaguars’ defensive back said about the referees working the 2017 AFC Championship Game. While the officiating did not benefit Ramsey’s team, the notion that Jacksonville had to play against both the home team Patriots and the men in black and white is not one supported by how the rules were applied during the contest (correctly, that is).Still, the All-Pro cornerback likes to talk about the game and the players participating in it. Speaking to Kimes he mentioned three players in particular: quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Danny Amendola, and tight end Rob Gronkowski. While he praised Brady – a player he classified as “doesn’t suck” in his interview about passers around the league –, Ramsey does apparently not feel the same way about the other two.“He just got a brand-new contract and he is terrible,” Ramsey said about Amendola. The veteran wide receiver, who signed a two-year, $12.0 million deal with the Miami Dolphins this offseason, was arguably the second best offensive player on the field during the AFC’s title game last year: Amendola finished the game with 84 receiving yards on seven catches – among them the two touchdowns that gave New England the lead and victory.Despite being a first-hand witness of Amendola’s effort Lawrence Guy Jersey , however, Ramsey does apparently not think that he is a good player. “People think he’s so great,” the fourth overall selection of the 2016 NFL draft said about the two-time Super Bowl champion – who he mixed up with Julian Edelman at one point during the interview. “No, he’s not. Tom [Brady] made him look good. Tom could take me as a receiver and I’d be a first-team All-Pro.”Ramsey did not stop there. He also talked about the NFL’s best tight end, Gronkowski, and also called him overrated. “I don’t think Gronk’s good,” he said before backpedaling a bit. “Let me say – I don’t think Gronk is as great as people think he is.” As opposed to his assessment of Amendola, Ramsey offered why he does not think of Gronkowski the same way most people, coaches, and players inside and outside of the league do.“Any time Gronk has been matched up with a corner, he’s had a very bad game – and that corner has had a very good game,” Ramsey argued. While Gronkowski has had comparatively quiet contests in the past when not going up solely against linebackers, he still usually did plenty of damage. Just take last year’s game against the Buffalo Bills, when standout rookie Tre’Davious White oftentimes played Gronkowski one-on-one.While the battle was a competitive one that saw White get under Gronkowski’s skin, the future Hall of Famer still registered a season-high nine catches for 147 yards. White is no Ramsey (yet), sure Authentic David Andrews Jersey Salute to Service , but he is still a very talented cornerback that had to see Gronkowski make play after play despite providing very good and physical coverage at times. The veteran tight end simply found a way to still be productive.Whether the same will hold true on September 16, when the Patriots travel to Jacksonville, remains to be seen. But don’t be surprised if a) Gronkowski has another solid outing despite b) seeing plenty of Ramsey one-on-one. It’s just what he does – which is what makes him the NFL’s best player at his position, even though Jalen Ramsey does not think he is as good as others think he is. (1.) If the coverage leading into Sunday night feels more like that of a UFC title fight than a primetime football game, it’s not by accident — but it’s also not entirely by choice.A byproduct of the NFL’s incompetence with regard to having its two biggest stars face off twice per decade is that four years of Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady media coverage is needlessly jammed into a single week — or six days in the case of this year’s go-around. It’s almost understandable. With so much time passing between Packers-Patriots contests, very little meat is left on the content-bone. Rosters are thoroughly turned over. Context derived from the teams’ most recent battles isn’t pertinent, making it impossible to establish a chronology of any real substance. Narratives simply aren’t allowed to develop organically. The NFL media machine — aside from a handful of excellent local reporters and analysts — has no choice but to capitalize on the moment. As a result, the Rodgers vs. Brady motif doesn’t just become the ripest and the lowest-hanging of the low-hanging fruit — it becomes the only hanging fruit. Yet, if you give the tree a good shake, you’ll find that the NFL hasn’t just missed out on the opportunity for one or two more duels between historic quarterbacks, but that they’ve has deprived football fans of a showcase between the two most successful organizations from each conference since the turn of the century. It’s true. Since Bill Belichick took the reigns in Foxborough in 2000, the Patriots have been historically good to the point where it renders the accomplishments of other franchises undistinguished. But, over that same span, the Green Bay Packers have been the cream of the crop in the NFC.From 2000 to 2017, the Packers have an NFC-leading 178 regular season wins, the most playoff trips in the conference (13) Limited Steve Grogan Jersey , as well as the most playoff wins (27). From 2006 — the first year of current head coach Mike McCarthy — through 2017, Green Bay leads the NFC in wins (121), postseason trips (9), playoff games (18), and Conference Championship Game appearances (4). Of course, they also added a Super Bowl in 2010.The Patriots’ totals in these departments between 2000 and 2017 are obviously ridiculous. They led the NFL with:214 regular season wins15 postseason trips37 postseason games12 Conference Championship Game appearances8 Super Bowl trips5 Super Bowl titlesFor the purpose of symmetry, here are those Patriots totals between 2006-2017 (still all league-leading, or course): 151 regular season wins11 postseason trips26 postseason games9 Conference Championship Game appearances5 Super Bowl trips2 Super Bowl titles (tied with the Giants for the most since 2006)(2.) Perhaps the most fascinating components of the Packers’ success are the methods and organizational characteristics that have allowed them to sustain it — elements and approaches that bear a striking resemblance to what Bill Belichick has established in New England.One such characteristic is stability. While there are certainly a countless number of variables, and the causation is likely a bit cyclical, there is a strong correlation between winning teams and franchises that maintain long stretches of stability at their GM (or primary player personnel decision-maker) position and head coach positions. The 11 organizations to have won a Super Bowl between 2000 and 2017 averaged 169.09 wins over those 18 seasons, and just 4.36 GM-head coach combinations. The other 21 franchises averaged 132.27 wins and 8 GM-head coach combinations.Between 2000 and 2017, no NFC team had fewer such combinations than Green Bay (four), and only three teams in the league had fewer. One of those teams was the Bengals, who haven’t employed a GM in the history of their organization. The other two were Pittsburgh (two combinations), and the Patriots (Belichick).(3.) A tangible approach that each organization has taken towards roster construction has been the organic growth of the middle and upper class of their rosters. Between 2011-2017, no other team in football had more “homegrown” players — ones drafted or signed as UDFAs and developed with the organization — with cap hits that were at or greater than 1% of that year’s league salary cap. The Packers had 96 such cap hits over that 18-season span. The Patriots ranked fifth on that list with 70. The league average was 50.(4.) The number of draft picks since 2000 to be signed to multi-year extensions before or directly after the expiration of their rookie deals:Packers — 35 total Trey Flowers Jersey , 18 from draft rounds 1-3.Patriots — 26 total, 12 from draft rounds 1-3.One could speculate that the Patriots would’ve been closer in the total number of these “homegrown” middle and upper class players, but they simply didn’t need to re-sign as many due to consistently planning ahead for the departure of players by developing depth through the draft and undrafted free agency. The Patriots have also been the most trade-happy organization in football in since Belichick’s arrival.(5.) With Patriots right guard Shaq Mason ruled out for Sunday’s contest, it marks the first time since his week eight of his rookie season that he hasn’t been active. Mason — who has been active for 54 of his first 56 career regular season games —is one third of a “homegrown” trio on the interior that includes left guard Joe Thuney and center David Andrews. It’s a unit that has been one of the more consistently-underrated in football over the past three seasons. Sunday will be just the third game since the start of 2016 in which all three won’t be on the field together.With the signing of Andrews to a three-year extension last May (a deal that might be among the best values in football), and with Mason inking a deal with $23.5 million guaranteed to keep him in Foxborough through 2023, the Patriots have two legs of their interior trio under contract through 2020. Joe Thuney, who will be eligible to negotiate a contract after the completion of this season, will carry a cap hit of roughly $2.22 million in 2019 after qualifying for the Proven Performance Escalator (PPE) — a provision in the CBA that bumps the fourth year rookie salary of a player drafted after the second round up to the level of that year’s lowest restricted free agency tender. Players can earn the PPE by participating in 35% of offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or by participating in 35% of all of those snaps over his first three years. According to overthecap.com, no 2016 draftee how was taken between rounds three and seven has participated in a high percentage of his unit’s snaps. The former NC State standout has participated has a 99.7% three-year average after playing in 99.6% in 2016, 99.5% in 2017, and 100% so far this year.Follow Brian Phillips on Twitter — @BPhillips_SB