Jaxson De Ville
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Jalen Ramsey says he’s been dealing with his “back problem” for years, and it has kept him from practicing for extended periods of time.
But unless the Jaguars have been fibbing on the injury report, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, Ramsey’s latest statement on his latest rationale for not working came during The Uninterrupted’s “17 Weeks” podcast on Sirius XM.
“I went … 51 straight games [before missing last week’s game] where I started and played the whole game,” Ramsey said. “My body was banged up, my back being extremely tight. Having back issues is something I’ve had to deal with over the course of my NFL career. At times I’ve played through extreme pain or not practiced for weeks and tried to go out there and play. It’s something I’ve dealt with.”
According to DiRocco, Ramsey has appeared on injury reports with a back designation twice in 2017, and was limited in practices those weeks. But he didn’t get a designation on the report in either of those weeks, meaning he was considered somewhat better than questionable.
Prior to this season, Ramsey has been listed as questionable on injury reports seven times — three last year with ankle and knee injuries, and four times in 2017 because of ankle, hand and hamstring injuries. Ramsey played in all seven of those games.
He has been ruled out of this week’s game against the Panthers, as he was last week. The back flare-up came right after his mysterious flu, and also his request to be traded out of Jacksonville.
“Jalen’s been working extremely hard to get back with this low-back issue and it hasn’t been getting any better,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said Friday. “Jalen has always been someone that’s extremely diligent in what he has to do to get back on the field. One of the toughest guys that I’ve coached when it comes down to injuries and fighting back from it. Obviously we’re just working day to day to get it better.
“A lot of players in the NFL deal with ailments during the season. Obviously, Jalen has appeared on the report in previous years, but he’s always been able to play on Sunday. Any time a player’s unable to practice due to medical reasons, we list it on the injury report. Like I said before, Jalen’s one of the toughest players that I’ve been around and whatever is happening with him, it’s never been a matter of he wasn’t going to play because of his toughness. He’s always done everything we’ve asked.”
Of course, if Ramsey’s endgame is to get traded, one would think he would only be scaring off potential suitors by disclosing such a serious back problem. And yet, we suspect if he got his wish, he’d feel much better.