How Steelers’ Star Jalen Ramsey Responded To Position Change

After a decade at cornerback, Jalen Ramsey will focus on a different discipline for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers are permanently moving Ramsey to free safety after DeShon Elliott’s season-ending injury. The seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback worked the new position during last Sunday’s 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Ramsey discussed his updated assignment before Pittsburgh’s Week 10 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, per Steelers.com’s Teresa Varley.

“It’s definitely new, for sure,” Ramsey said. “Before last week, the last time I played safety for a full game was my freshman year in college. So, however many years ago that was, 13 or something like that. So, it’s been a while.”

The nuances didn’t immediately come back to him. Ramsey is still adjusting to playing safety, but the veteran appreciates the new challenge.

“It’s definitely not like riding a bike. Tough, but fun,” he added. “I love football. All pieces of it I enjoy and try to embrace. I guess you could say it brings a renewed energy for me because playing corner for 10 years, you kind of learn the game and it kind of becomes same old, same old, same old every day. Not saying that I wasn’t learning or wasn’t trying to continue to grow that role. At safety, now I’m in the meetings and things. I’m learning new things to look at, different ways to look at the game from the safety’s point of view. But it’s been cool.”

The switch worked well for the Steelers on Sunday. After getting gashed by Joe Flacco and Jordan Love in back-to-back losses, the defense responded by forcing six turnovers against an Indianapolis offense that entered the game with the NFL’s most total yards.

Ramsey will roam the secondary against Justin Herbert and the Chargers’ sixth-ranked passing offense. The Steelers can maintain at least a two-game lead in the AFC North with a primetime win.

The “Sunday Night Football” game against the Chargers kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.

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