BALTIMORE – Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew expects different kinds of reunions on Sunday when he faces two of his former teammates in the Baltimore Ravens defense.
Minshew said he’s not going to talk to Calais Campbell because he’s too nice. But when it comes to pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue …
“Now Yannick is looking for blood,” Minshew said Wednesday.
Ngakoue left Jacksonville four months ago by repeatedly expressing his displeasure 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 waged a heated Twitter exchange with Tony Khan, the son of Jaguars owner Shad Khan and the team’s senior vice president of football administration and technology.
In late August, Ngakoue showed how badly he wanted to leave Jacksonville by taking a $ 5.8 million pay cut to facilitate a trade to the Minnesota Vikings. He was then treated to the Ravens in late October.
After being so vocal all year long, Ngakoue was extremely calm on Thursday when talking about playing the Jaguars for the first time.
“I’m just treating it like a different game,” said Ngakoue. “We need the rest of these wins to get where we need to get. At the end of the day I had my time with Jacksonville, you know that’s no secret. At the end of the day I’m just going to do it treat it like another game, another Sunday. “
Ngakoue did not make the expected immediate impact for the Ravens. He has one sack and one quarterback hit in seven games for Baltimore.
“Sometimes that’s how the game is,” said Ngakoue. ‘But they come in bunches when they roll in. You have to keep thinking, ‘I can’t give up. I will not stop. I will keep rushing anyway. ”
A third round pick by Jacksonville in 2014, Ngakoue produced 37.5 bags in four seasons with the Jaguars. He was also directly responsible for five of the 12 defensive touchdowns the Jaguars scored between 2016 and 2019: a pick-six, one fumble return, and three forced fumbles on sacks that other players recovered for scores.
The Ravens believe that Ngakoue has been close to the quarterbacks several times and his pressure has caused teams to lose the ball more quickly.
“You keep seeing him get closer and closer to a Raven and run the packages,” said Raven’s defense coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale.
Campbell, who was traded to Baltimore in March, said he is looking forward to playing against the Jaguars. He was a Pro Bowl player in all three seasons in Jacksonville.
“I got in touch with some guys there just because in football you develop a brotherhood and friendship,” Campbell said. “So a lot of those guys that I’m really, really close to. So it’s going to be fun to fight and talk nonsense and have fun with the old team.”
ESPN’s Michael DiRocco contributed to this report.