Getty Jets CB Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner gets ready for game.
The Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey seems to have a lot to say about New York Jets‘ defenders.
Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner responded to Humphrey calling Sauce out recently on the “Punch Line” podcast, more on this below.
Sauce first responded on X (formerly Twitter) to the comment tweeting, “Me personally, if I gotta say ‘I’m not hating’ before I say something about somebody then I’m just not gon’ say it [crying face emoji]. That’s me tho.”
Following practice on Wednesday, November 15, he was asked to follow up on the fact that fellow corners seem to comment on him.
Sauce was a little more restrained but did say, “I don’t really get surprised. These people are from all over the world, so I don’t expect nothing from them. I don’t expect them to be loyal or be a certain type of way. I didn’t grow with them.”
The second-year player spoke more about his own mindset saying, “They were just raised different than I was raised, that’s what I had to understand, just in life in general. I just do me. All the extra stuff, I don’t really get into that.”
The Jets drafted Sauce fourth overall in the 2022 NFL draft. The Cincinnati product has become a fan favorite and has taken the league by storm.
Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey Calls Out Jets’ Sauce Gardner Publicly
The spat originates from an episode of “Punch Line Podcast with Marlon Humphrey” on Monday, November 8.
In the episode Humphrey goes after Sauce regarding the young corner’s tendency to get away with higher levels of physicality. Humphrey was asked if there was a cornerback, that he believes got away with more than the usual contact than other corners.
Humphrey paused before saying, “I’m not hating. I’m not hating. Sauce Gardner got away with a lot. A lot!” He clarified that he was talking about last year and does not know much about this year.
Relative to CBs of the last 5 years, a look at how well CBs have prevented separation and how often they’re targeted
This is the second Jet that Humphrey has gone after in recent weeks. He called out the NFL, in a since deleted post, for giving The Defensive Player of the Month award to linebacker Quincy Williams instead of teammate Geno Stone.
He also used the words “I’m not hating” in that post as well.
Sauce broke out onto the scene last year winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year, as well as being named an All-Pro cornerback. Sauce’s strength has always been being a physical corner with good technique in getting receivers off their routes.
Seems that Humphrey believes not all of that was legal. If you ask Jets fans though they would argue that their team is the least likely to get away with penalties.
Sauce was called for a key penalty against the Kansas City Chiefs during their week 4 matchup, that in essence ended the game.
Sauce’s first game as a rookie actually came against the Ravens Week 1 of the 2022 season. The Ravens won 24-9, but the rookie was only targeted twice, and only allowed 1 completion for 11-yards.
Marlon Humphrey Vs. Sauce Gardner by the Numbers
Humphrey has been considered one of the top corners since he entered the league in 2017, so he may know better than others when someone is taking contact a little far.
However, looking at last year, both Humphrey and Gardner were called for five penalties in 2022.
Humphrey had three accepted penalties, one declined, and one offsetting. Meanwhile, Sauce had three declined and two accepted.
So far this season, Sauce has only been called for one penalty (the controversial one), while Humphrey has been called for four (three accepted).
Lowest yards per coverage snap allowed among outside corners with at least 200 coverage snaps:
1. Riq Woolen, 0.8
2. Sauce Gardner, 0.9
3. Jaylon Johnson, 0.9
In 17 games last season Sauce was targeted 86 times and only allowed 46 completions. He was credited with allowing 452 yards and 1 touchdown.
Humphrey on the other hand, was targeted 79 times and allowed 51 catches. He was credited with allowed 590 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Pro Football Focus seems to disagree with Humphrey, as they rated Sauce at an “87.9” overall grade last year with a “90.0” pass coverage grade. This year he is down to an “82.5” overall, but he still has a “88.9” coverage grade.
This is still good enough to be the fifth ranked corner in the NFL. Humphrey is rated 35th.