JACKSONVILLE – Jalen Ramsey cares.
And yes, what's going on with the Jaguars during their current five-game losing streak bothers the All-Pro cornerback. He said it bothers his teammates, too. A lot.
"Y'all act like we're not frustrated," Ramsey said Thursday as the Jaguars (3-6) prepared to play the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2-1) at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville Sunday at 1 p.m.
"Come on, now. I'm not saying we don't care about the fans being frustrated, but we're frustrated in here. That's what y'all fail to realize. Y'all think we're walking around and we're happy about what's been happening lately? We're not. We're still trying to figure out a way we can fix it."
Ramsey on Thursday during his weekly media availability not only clarified his level of frustration, he also discussed several other issues – including how long he wants to play for the Jaguars.
That has been a topic this week since Ramsey on Monday Tweeted the following: "When I'm gone, y'all gone miss me." This came a day after the Jaguars' 29-26 loss to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday.
"I've said multiple times over and over and over and over and over and over and over again that I want to play for one team my whole career," Ramsey said. "I don't control that, but it is what it is."
Ramsey then discussed the details of the rookie contract that he signed after being selected by the Jaguars No. 5 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft – that he has another year remaining on the deal with the Jaguars having an option for a fifth year, and that the Jaguars have the option to use the franchise designation on him after that.
"I could be here for a while," he said.
And that's fine with Ramsey, who joked that when he plays the Madden video game he plays as member of the Jaguars.
"I'm not that good at Madden, but I play Madden all the time," he said. "I play with the Jags. I play with myself. I don't trade myself. I don't make any trades on the team. I play with the Jags. I lose a couple of times, but I bounce back. I always bounce back.
"I play corner. I play punt returner on there, too. I get a little punt returner in there – but yeah … I play with the Jags. I don't trade myself."
Ramsey added, "We've slipped up here recently – not executed and played like we know we can. But like whoever – the fake fans, y'all, whoever .. if y'all want to jump ship, it is what it is. But y'all gonna miss us when we're either gone or when stuff's back poppin' – we don't want y'all anymore."
Ramsey on Thursday also addressed speculation this week that Jaguars defensive backs – including himself – may have freelanced against the Colts.
"Nobody's doing that," Ramsey said.
The Jaguars allowed four first-half touchdowns to the Colts, allowing the Colts five pass plays in the first half of 20 yards or more.
"We have to communicate better," he said. "I saw a couple of things where people were like, 'Certain guys are out there are playing whatever they want to … they're out here going rogue.' C'mon…. I don't think anybody in their right minds truly believes that. If a guy truly knows what to do, ain't nobody out here trying to mess up on purpose."
Ramsey called the idea that somebody would think otherwise "kind of annoying," particularly from "guys who we thought were going to support us or fans we thought were going to support us."
"That's lame," he said. "But it is what it is. That's what we have to do better – communicating and fixing that."
He added, "Nobody's doing that. If you have an opportunity, you go try to make your opportunity, but you don't freelance. That's not the type of defense we have. I don't know how the offense is. I don't know if guys can do their own thing over there, but on defense that's not how it is.
"If everybody's playing something, you can't just play something totally different. We've got certain calls where depending on how the offense comes out it can be one thing or it can be another thing. If it's not communicated right, then that's when guys play different things."
Ramsey discussed the Colts' first touchdown Sunday, a play on which the rest of the secondary played man-to-man defense and he played press coverage.
"We have calls that depending on what the offense comes out in I play press … I play man on my respective side," Ramsey said. "If it's not communicated thoroughly all the way across the field, that's what I thought I was in. I never went out there and said, 'They're playing this so 'F it, I'm going to play this.' That's not how it was.
"The call was not communicated throughout the field, so I stayed on my man. That's what we talked about. We argued about it. We went through about it on the sidelines. We've got to get communication better. It's the little things like that we have to fix up."
