What is going to happen with Jalen Ramsey?

Jacksonville Jaguars star cornerback Jalen Ramsey was inactive again on Sunday with a back injury, making it three games in a row the defender has missed with injury. Ramsey, who’d never missed a game previously in his career, has been missing/limited in practice the past three weeks and was sent to see a specialist a week ago, who according to ESPN’s Chris Mortenson found nothing “debilitating”.

That tweet of course sent a lot of Jaguars fans into an anger prior to kick-off, leading to more conspiracies about Ramsey faking an injury, because of course nothing has nuance and everything is binary. He’s either 100 percent hurt and it’s all a big coincidence or he’s 100 percent healthy and he’s totally faking the injury altogether.

As I mentioned in the past and on Twitter, I do not think Ramsey is faking an injury the way most fans are upset about, but I do believe it’s something he would normally play through. Given his trade request and his situation, he’s not going to play through it right now and apply any extra risk while the trade deadline hasn’t passed, which is certainly his prerogative and there’s not much the team can do about it but make him inactive.

Of course many fans are over it and just want him dealt, but that’s not something the Jaguars are likely going to do in the given situation. Just simply trading Ramsey now is giving in, and exactly what the disgruntled corner wants. Doing so would be rewarding him, so unless some team comes with a “godfather” type offer at the trade deadline, I wouldn’t expect any changes in the current situation.

What we will likely see this week is Ramsey limited in practice all week, a game-time decision against the Cincinnati Bengals and ultimately being inactive. Ramsey and the team have both dug in on their sides, so unless Ramsey has a change of heart it’s going to remain the way it’s been for the past three weeks because there’s no pressure to change anything.

So the question often comes to; Where does this end?

Outside of a godfather offer at the deadline, which I believe is highly unlikely, there’s two scenarios I can see playing out.

First, the trade deadline passes and Jalen Ramsey is still a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team decides to put him on injured reserve with his back injury and after the season everything is reassessed with Ramsey most likely traded prior to the 2020 NFL Draft.

The other scenario I could see playing out is the deadline passes with Ramsey still on the roster and he decides he’s lost the short battle and ends up playing. I think it’s clear the Jaguars coaching staff and players want Ramsey to play, because why wouldn’t you, and would welcome him back to the field. Continuing to sit out after the deadline passes only hurts on person ultimately, and that’s Jalen Ramsey.

Ramsey could end up playing after the deadline know that he’s still going to have to show he can be a good teammate when he’s not happy and dog it on the field, which I do not see him doing, because any time giving up the haul that it will take to get him will want to make sure they can avoid a similar scenario.

As mentioned, I think his teammates would welcome him back and I don’t think it’s gotten to the point yet where they’re bothered by it. I made sure to keep an eye on Ramsey on the sideline Sunday from my seat and he was still engaged with his teammates, often dapping them up when they came off a field for a series and constantly in cornerback Tre Herndon’s ear when he came off the field.

It’s going to be more of the same until the deadline, so there’s not really any use in getting worked up over it anymore. I know everyone is tired of the Ramsey situation, including myself because there’s not really anything new to discuss. We will still have newsworthy things on Ramsey, as far as practicing etc., but there’s not really much else to discuss on the topic.