Jalen Ramsey ‘not scared’ of Aaron Rodgers, challenges Packers to throw at him

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Aaron Rodgers is probably going to the Hall of Fame one day. Jalen Ramsey is about to play his first regular season NFL game at cornerback. There’s a case to be made that both are about equally confident.

Ramsey is gearing up to face Rodgers and the Packer offense in his regular season debut, and he didn’t sound the least bit intimidated by the prospect. In fact, he essentially dared Rodgers to come at him.

“I’m not scared,” Ramsey said, via Mike DiRocco of ESPN. “Throw my way if you want to.”

In fact, Ramsey even mused briefly about picking Rodgers off, though he refused to get ahead of himself.

“It’d mean a lot to me,” he said of the prospect. “It’ll be my first NFL interception but that’s not really what I’m focused on right now. I’m just focused on doing what I can do for the team.”

Ramsey has never lacked for confidence. Remember some of the comments he made in the leadup to the NFL Draft? That confidence will be great for him, but he has to back it up on the field.

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Rodgers hails ‘near-on perfect’ start with Celtic

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Glasgow (AFP) – Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed his players for making what he described as a near perfect start to the season after a 4-1 win over Aberdeen took them top of the Scottish Premiership.

It capped off a great week for the Scottish champions who clinched a place in the lucrative group stage of the Champions League following a 5-4 aggregate win over Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva on Tuesday.

Rodgers, who replaced Ronny Deila in May, has also helped guide his side to the last eight of the League Cup while winning three out of three in the Premiership to top the table.

And the former Liverpool manager admitted his delight with the way his players have bounced back from the humiliation of a 1-0 defeat to minnows Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in his first competitive game in charge.

“I think it’s been near-on perfect when you think that we’re into the quarter-final of the League Cup, we’ve qualified for the Champions League and we’ve won three out of three in the League, and they were three tough games,” the Celtic manager said.

“St Johnstone away, Hearts before that and now Aberdeen at home, so it was a tough start and to come out of those games having scored the goals we have is fantastic.

“We’re disappointed in one or two of the goals that we’ve conceded but that will improve and get better.

“I think that the start the players have made has been fantastic.”

Celtic, who have been drawn with Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach in their Champions League group, are now top of the Premiership table, a point clear of Rangers with a game in hand.

– ‘Relentless’ –

Leigh Griffiths fired Celtic into a 13th-minute lead against the Dons with a unstoppable strike but Aberdeen equalised against the run of play through Adam Rooney in the 32nd minute.

A fantastic finish from James Forrest restored Celtic’s advantage before Mark Reynolds saw red for bundling Scott Sinclair off the ball in the box late on. 

The former Manchester City winger fired home from the penalty spot and Australian international Tom Rogic curled home a stoppage time free-kick to seal the win.

On Friday, Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Kilmarnock at Rugby Park and next up is the first Old Firm clash of the season at Celic Park on September 10. 

“I thought it was arguably our best result of the season just because of everything that has happened before it,” Rodgers said of the Aberdeen game.

“It has been so difficult for the players because of all the travelling they’ve done so I had to freshen it up early in the second half. 

“The impetus this gave us to go on for the final half-hour of the match was really good.

“To end up scoring four goals against a very good side, late on again, really shows the mental and physical fitness of the players. They are relentless at the moment.

“I thought today was a game where they had a choice; they’ve qualified for the Champions League so they might not go in with the same ambition and the same intensity.

“It’s maybe a game they can win but it’s maybe a game they can lose or draw. But if they’re going to be as relentless as we want them to be then you have to go and win this game and I thought they won it very well.”

The post Rodgers hails ‘near-on perfect’ start with Celtic appeared first on World Soccer Talk.

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The Bachelorette finale: JoJo picks ex-Vanderbilt QB Jordan Rodgers as her fiancé

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When a quarterback takes a knee in football, it means he"s about to win. That turned out to be true on The Bachelorette as well, as Jordan Rodgers ended the show with a proposal to JoJo Fletcher.

From start to finish on this season of The Bachelorette, JoJo Fletcher had her eye on Jordan Rodgers. He earned the first rose of the season, and Monday night he earned the most important one, as JoJo picked the former Vanderbilt quarterback over ex-Florida State swimmer Robby Hayes.

Entering the final episode, it seemed like there was no way Jordan could lose to Robby. But there was drama, as Jordan initially opted not to ask JoJo"s family for permission to marry her, contrary to his previous statement that he would. After some tears, he eventually called up JoJo"s parents, got the words he needed to hear, and JoJo told him she was choosing him.

Jordan was a prime candidate to win JoJo"s heart for the entire run of the show. He was the first contestant to catch JoJo"s eye, earning the famed First Impression rose on the opening episode of the season. He earned the first rose of an episode four times over the course of a 10-episode season, meaning he virtually never had to sweat during a rose ceremony. As the contestants traveled from LA to Pennsylvania to Uruguay to Argentina to Thailand, Jordan always seemed to be a step ahead of the competition.

There was some controversy surrounding Jordan"s trustworthiness, as contestants and fans questioned whether he was on the show "for the right reasons" -- essentially, accusing the recently retired athlete of using the show"s extremely large platform to increase his visibility as he attempts to transition into a post-football career in television. It"s a strategy that worked for Jesse Palmer, who had a similarly forgettable NFL career, then appeared as The Bachelor, and landed a coveted gig as one of ABC/ESPN"s lead college football analysts. It may have already worked: Rodgers was reportedly hired by the SEC Network during the show"s run. The SEC Network is owned by ESPN, which is owned by ABC, which of course shows The Bachelorette.

Jordan started for two years as Vanderbilt"s quarterback, perhaps the most successful back-to-back years in the historically woeful history of Commodores football. He earned some looks from NFL teams -- the Jaguars, the Buccaneers and the Dolphins -- but never appeared in a regular season game.

Jordan did have an opportunity to show off his quarterbacking skills on the show. During the fourth episode of the show, Rodgers served as all-time QB during a game of 5-on-5 football at Heinz Field. The winners earned a date with JoJo, and it was deemed unfair for a former pro QB to be on one team or the other.

As a member of both teams, he "won" the game, but it was his performance after the game that won him that date"s rose from JoJo.

One of the major storylines involving Jordan this season was his strained relationship with his brother, Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. Normally The Bachelorette doesn"t spend too much time focusing on the relationship between contestants and their siblings, but with Rodgers it earned a lot of play for two reasons. Firstly, he"s Aaron Rodgers, and he"s very very very famous. Secondly, Jordan felt public perception was that much of his own career success was because he had a famous brother in the same field, where he personally felt self-made and resented constant comparisons to his extremely talented sibling. Aaron apparently didn"t appreciate the fact that their relationship is the stuff of headlines, commenting that it was "inappropriate" to discuss family matters, but wishing his brother the best on the show.

So now Jordan and JoJo are engaged, but if you"re excited for their happily ever after, you probably shouldn"t get your hopes up. According to reality TV blogger Reality Steve -- who used reality TV sources to accurately spoil virtually everything to take place on this season of The Bachelorette, including Jordan"s victory, months ahead of time -- their relationship is not exactly going smoothly. Steve speculates their relationship may already be over, and that they have been keeping up appearances for the sake of the show.

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Celtic’s Rodgers upbeat despite Barcelona defeat

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Dublin (AFP) – Brendan Rodgers remains optimistic about Celtic’s Champions League hopes even after seeing his side beaten 3-1 by Spanish giants Barcelona in a Dublin friendly.

Luis Enrique’s side scored three first-half goals through Arda Turan, Munir El Haddadi and an Efe Ambrose own-goal, to cancel out Leigh Griffiths’s 29th-minute strike.

Rodgers had one eye on Wednesday’s Champions League third qualifying round second leg tie with Astana at Celtic Park, and despite some poor defensive play, expressed his happiness with what was a challenging 90 minutes against the La Liga champions.

“It was an excellent workout, it’s always a great education when playing Barcelona in terms of how they play, but I was really proud of the players coming back off a long trip during the week,” said Rodgers, whose side were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Kazakhstan.

“They had one day to recover and then out there to face a team who test you and your organisation. 

“I thought we were good in terms of some of our pressing, our goal comes from our ability to press and be up the field. I thought we had some really good passages of play. 

“Our only negative was the injury to Nir Bitton, it looks a nasty one but we’ll assess that over the next 24 hours,” the Northern Irishman added.

– ‘Unlucky’ Ambrose –

Former Liverpool manager Rodgers revealed he was looking to sign four more players during the transfer window, and following another slip-up by Ambrose, the Nigerian international defender, defence will be an area he is keen to strengthen.

The Celtic boss refused to confirm or deny a possible move for Manchester United youngster Paddy McNair, but gave his support to Ambrose, whose substitution appeared to be cheered by some Celtic fans.

“I think he’s an unlucky guy, bless him,” Rodgers said.

“I think a striker would have been proud of that goal. He was so unfortunate. The ball is whipped in, there is no real danger and for it to come off his leg that far outside the post and to go in the far corner is disappointing, especially after us getting back into the game as well. 

“Look, sometimes these things happen, but overall he did okay.”

Aston Villa midfielder Scott Sinclair could yet join the Rodgers revolution, following Moussa Dembele and Kolo Toure, who have already signed for Celtic.

Rodgers said saw plenty of positives in the 3-1 defeat, but accepted the side had plenty of work ahead of them.

“We’re still a long way away from where I want to be, but what I can’t deny is the mental fitness of the players, and physically how they’re pushing themselves, we showed some good moments in the game in terms of where we want to be, but the reality is other players will be coming in, and obviously we’ll have more work on the training ground,” he said.

Meanwhile Barcelona manager Enrique was pleased with his side’s first pre-season game, with 20 players getting a run out.

“It was great to be back, to have the team back, quite happy with a good result, we played a good game,” he said.

“It was a good test. Celtic have a second game in the Champions League to come, and they are working hard under the new coach.”

Enrique had special praise for Hoops winger Patrick Roberts, who models his game on Lionel Messi.

“He’s a great player, he has a great future in the team, he has great quality and I think he can bring good things to the team,” Enrique said.

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