Jalen Ramsey proves worth to Steelers with move to safety, inspiring speech to team
As one of only a handful of players on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster who have been in the NFL longer than Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Rodgers has an appreciation for how Ramsey showed his leadership and value to the team this weekend.
On the field, Ramsey’s necessitated switch in role to fulltime safety was as selfless as it was seamless. Off of it, Ramsey’s inspired words to the team the day before Sunday’s victory against the AFC-leading Indianapolis Colts proved just as noteworthy.
“I noticed that something kind of changed (Saturday) night when Jalen spoke,” Rodgers said after the 27-20 victory.
“You’ve got to give ‘5’ (Ramsey’s uniform number) a lot of credit for his leadership the last 24 hours. … I thought there was a good message last night by Jalen, and I think the guys responded well.”
The Steelers clamped down for most of Sunday’s game on an offense that entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in the NFL in both points (33.8 per game) and yards (385.3 per game).
Sunday, Indianapolis had just seven points through three quarters and didn’t surpass 300 yards of offense until the final minutes of the game.
The reasons are many, but the 41-year-old Rodgers lauded Ramsey’s lengthy speech as a turning point in regards to attitude.
“Jalen kind of went on and on and had the attention in the room, and he said some really, really good stuff,” Rodgers said, declining to offer specifics.
“It was even meaningful to me on the offensive side. And I feel like we had a different energy in the locker room today. … I do feel like in the locker room pregame there was a different energy for us, and (the defense) played really well.”
That defense was reeling after allowing 68 points and 924 yards combined in defeats to the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers. It also was without three contributors because of illness or injury: Cole Holcomb, Jabrill Peppers and Chuck Clark.
That the latter two are safeties left the Steelers with little choice but to turn to Ramsey — a 10-year veteran and three-time first-team AP All-Pro at cornerback — as a full-time free safety against the Colts.
“The guy can play anywhere,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said. “He can do anything.
“We’re just happy to have a guy like that in a room that can rotate anywhere and do whatever he needs to on the field to help us out.”
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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