Doug Marrone: Jalen Ramsey leaving Jaguars indefinitely for daughter's birth
The Jalen Ramsey saga with the Jacksonville Jaguars received a new twist on Wednesday.
Head coach Doug Marrone announced in a statement that Ramsey will leave the team indefinitely for the birth of his child.
“Months ago in the offseason, Jalen notified me that he was expecting the birth of his second child in late September,” Marrone’s statement reads. “We spoke about this recently and again today after practice and decided that it was best for Jalen to fly to Nashville tonight after meetings to be with his family during the birth of their daughter.
“He will return to the team when he’s ready, and we will provide an update at that time.”
Normally a player leaving midweek to attend the birth of his child wouldn’t be noteworthy. That’s the expected thing to do, of course.
How long will Ramsey be gone?
But when that player is Ramsey and his absence is left open-ended, it leaves questions open about when or if he’ll actually return to the Jaguars.
Ramsey wants out
Ramsey reportedly requested a trade from the Jaguars last week following an on-field confrontation with Marrone during Jacksonville’s Week 2 loss to the Houston Texans.
He later said that his request didn’t stem from the blowup with Marrone, but because of “disrespectful things” that were said to him after the game.
Called in sick twice this week
He played in Jacksonville’s Week 3 win over the Tennessee Titans, but has since called in sick from practice, citing the flu for his absence on Monday.
On Wednesday, he sat out practice again, this time citing a back injury.
And now he has an open-ended leave from the team to attend his daughter’s birth in Nashville.
Incomplete information
Certainly there’s a chance that Ramsey caught the flu and suffered a back injury all in the same week that he’s leaving town for childbirth in the midst of a conflict with the team over a trade demand.
Any speculation otherwise could easily be addressed by the team with a note about when he’s expected to return.
But there was no note on that front, leaving the entire situation up to conjecture.
The Jaguars face the Broncos in Denver on Sunday. Whether Ramsey plays will provide a better gauge of what’s actually happening behind closed doors.
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