BALTIMORE – Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew expects different types of meetings Sunday when he faces two of his former teammates in defense of the Baltimore Ravens.
Minshew said he’s not going to trash with Calais Campbell because he’s too likeable. But when it comes to Yannick Ngakoue …
“Now Yannick is going to look for blood,” Minshew said Wednesday.
Ngakoue forced his departure from Jacksonville four months ago repeatedly expressing his dissatisfaction with the Jaguars this year. In March, he announced on Twitter that he would not sign a long-term deal with the Jaguars. A month later, he took part in an intense Twitter exchange with Tony Khan, son of Jaguars owner Shad Khan and senior vice president of football administration and technology for the team.
In late August, Ngakoue demonstrated how badly he wanted to get out of Jacksonville by taking a $ 5.8 million cut to facilitate trade with the Minnesota Vikings. It was later handed out to the Ravens in late October.
After being so vocal all year, Ngakoue was extremely discreet this Thursday when it came to playing the Jaguars for the first time.
“I’m treating it like one more game,” Ngakoue said. “We need the rest of those wins to get to where we need to get to. At the end of the day, I spent time with Jacksonville, you know that’s no secret. At the end of the day, I’m just going to treat it like a game more, one more Sunday “.
Ngakoue has not caused the immediate impact expected for the Ravens. He has a sack and a successful quarterback in seven games for Baltimore.
“Sometimes that’s the game,” Ngakoue said. “But they come in bunches when they come in. You have to keep having the mindset of ‘I can’t give up.’ I will not stop. I will keep running independently. “
A Jacksonville third-round pick in 2014, Ngakoue produced 37.5 sacks in four seasons with the Jaguars. He was also directly responsible for five of the 12 defensive touchdowns the Jaguars scored from 2016 to 2019: a pick-six, a fumble return and three forced fumbles in sacks that other players recovered to score.
The Ravens believe Ngakoue has been close to reaching quarterbacks several times and his pressure has caused teams to get rid of the ball more quickly.
“Keep seeing him getting closer and closer to being a crow and running the packages,” Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale said.
Campbell, who was traded to Baltimore in March, said he hoped to play with the Jaguars. He was a Pro Bowl player in all three seasons in Jacksonville.
“I’ve been in touch with a bunch of guys there, just because in football, you develop a brotherhood and a friendship,” Campbell said. “Then a lot of these guys I’m real with, very close. So it’s going to be fun to compete and talk rubbish down the road and have fun with the old team.”
ESPN’s Michael DiRocco contributed to this report.