Jalen Ramsey received an ejection from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 11 showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals following his altercation with wideout Ja’Marr Chase early in the fourth quarter.
The altercation occurred following a Bengals timeout after unsuccessfully trying to get Pittsburgh’s defense to jump offsides on fourth down. The Bengals got a first down, however, after Ramsey, the Steelers’ starting free safety, received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after throwing a punch at Chase after the whistle. The result was an ejection for Ramsey, and first down for the Bengals.
Following the game, Ramsey and Chase had differing accounts on what took place between the two prior to the altercation.
“He spit on me,” Ramsey said of Chase. “I don’t give a f— after that, respectfully. I’m always gonna be all for trash talking, s— talking, stuff like that. I actually enjoy that part of the game.”
Ramsey and Chase had a scuffle earlier in the game, but that was mostly civil. Ramsey said that wasn’t the case later in the game.
“As soon as he spit, it was f— that,” said Ramsey, who also accused Chase of trying to crack block him earlier in the game. “I ain’t gonna tolerate that part of it.”
Chase denied spitting on Ramsey, who is hopeful that the NFL does its “due diligence” in terms of finding out what happened.
“I ain’t ever open my mouth to that guy,” Chase said. “We were going back and forth the whole time, so I’m sure something got under his skin. … I didn’t spit on nobody.”
When asked about it afterward, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said that the reasoning behind Ramsey’s punch and subsequent ejection was irrelevant.
“We gotta be smarter,” Tomlin said. “We gotta stay in football games, as individuals.”
Ramsey’s ejection came with the Steelers protecting a 20-9 lead. Pittsburgh was also playing without starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who sustained a left hand injury just before halftime. Mason Rudolph led the Steelers’ offense to a field goal during his first possession with Rodgers out at quarterback.
Despite Ramsey’s absence, the Steelers recorded a 34-12 win that included two defensive touchdowns. Pittsburgh is now 6-4 and remains in front of second-place Baltimore in the AFC North standings.
