Jacksonville just can't quit Jalen Ramsey.
Dating back to just before the Jaguars' Thursday Night Football contest with the Tennessee Titans in Week 3, the star corner's camp has requested a trade out of his AFC South home. It's been nearly three weeks since that Sept. 15 request and it hasn't been fulfilled.
And it likely won't be.
While speaking exclusively to The Associated Press' Mark Long on Wednesday, Jaguars owner Shad Khan revealed that he has no plans to trade Ramsey, despite the former first round pick's wishes. Khan said "the best thing is to have him be part of the team."
"Obviously, football is a team sport and I'm sensitive to what individual insight or viewpoint or requests (there) might be," he told Long. "But we have to do the right thing for the team. We value the values Jalen adds to us, to the Jaguars. I think we value him highly. We're still looking at what is the right thing for the Jaguars, and I think right now the best thing is to have him be part of the team."
Ramsey did play in that Thursday night matchup in Week 3, but has since been MIA from Jacksonville. He missed practice last week due to the flu, then was dealing with a back issue and left the team later in the week to head down to Nashville for the birth of his second child. After that, he did take the team charter to Denver, but did not play in their contest against the Broncos.
The two-time Pro Bowl corner didn't practice on Wednesday due to that back issue making his prospects for Week 5 a bit grim.
The request by Ramsey came after the camera caught Jaguars coach Doug Marrone being pulled away after getting into sideline spat with Jalen Ramsey during their Week 2 loss to the Texans. While that spat wasn't the root of his request, Ramsey noted previously that he felt disrespected by what was said to him following that loss from higher-ups in the organization.
As this saga has unfolded, Khan did say that he met with Ramsey to try and to repair the fractured relationship between him and the team.
"I've met with him," Khan said. "I think my relationship with him is pretty good. This is not a request from me or a viewpoint from me. I have no issue, obviously. I'd love for him to be part of the Jaguars."
Khan and the Jags seem pretty intent on keeping Ramsey in Jacksonville as they reportedly already turned down an offer of two first-round picks. So while Jacksonville is doing everything they can to keep Ramsey in town, if the corner continues to bang the drum for a trade, you'd think it'd only be a matter of time before the Jaguars have to listen.
