Sunday night's matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals is set to feature a highly-anticipated individual matchup between Jalen Ramsey and DeAndre Hopkins. If you ask Rams coach Sean McVay, though, he actually has other thoughts in mind.
While the Ramsey vs. Hopkins narrative presents itself as one of the top cornerbacks in the league going up against an elite wide receiver, McVay did his bit to downplay the one-on-one bout:
Article Continues Below“Jalen gives us some flexibility that you have the ability to play strong coverage or travel with whoever you need from the opposing team,” McVay said, via the Cardinals’ website (h/r Michael David Smith of NBC Sports). “But Jalen is so much more to us than just somebody that does that. He’s playing all over the field. You definitely don’t want to be so predictable that the only thing he’s doing is just traveling around with DeAndre all day. Those two have tremendous respect for one another. They’re two of the best in the world at what they do.”
As McVay emphasized in his statement, he intends to provide Ramsey with more defensive assignments than just covering Hopkins exclusively.
Defending Arizona's star WR is going to be a tough ask for any opposing team, but if anyone is up for the task, then it's a guy like Jalen Ramsey. Nevertheless, for his part, McVay clearly believes that there is much more for the Rams to worry about than just Hopkins.