Report: Jalen Ramsey calls out sick, may miss practice all week

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars were without Jalen Ramsey at Monday's practice after the star cornerback called out sick.

Ramsey, who's been the subject of trade rumors and speculation for the past week, let the team know by phone Sunday night that he would miss practice with what he thinks might be the flu, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

"Due to being sick, Jaguars' CB Jalen Ramsey will not practice today, nor maybe this week at all, per sources," Schefter wrote in a series of tweets posted Monday morning. "Ramsey still wants to be traded; Jaguars want to keep him. Standoff continues."

The sick call marks the latest chapter in the saga surrounding Ramsey, who has made no secret of his desire for a change of scenery. His agent requested a trade after the team's Week 2 loss to Houston, which featured a noteworthy sideline confrontation between Ramsey and coach Doug Marrone.

Former Jaguars quarterback and News4Jax sports analyst Mark Brunell said that illnesses do happen to NFL players just as they do a regular person. The only unique aspect of Ramsey's absence is how it aligns with everything else of the past nine days. 

"Guys get sick and miss practice just like anybody else," he said. "The timing of it is, of course … conspicuous. Odd timing. But maybe he's actually sick today. In my experience, occasionally guys get sick and can't come to work. It's too early to tell [if it's anything more]."

Marrone said that players miss time more often than people realize. 

"It's happened a bunch. They're sick and they'll call in, and depending on the type of sickness, they'll stay away, because obviously you don't want to get anyone else sick," he said. "They'll go see Dr. [Michael] Yorio and Yorio will get back to us and tell us what's going [on] and we just take it from there. It's happened – I don't want to exaggerate, and say hundreds of times, but it's happened quite a bit."

Ramsey recently opened up about his relationship with the team on "17 Weeks," a podcast hosted by former NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson.

"Some disrespectful things were said on their (Jacksonville's) end that made me definitely walk out and call my agent as soon as I walked out," Ramsey said at the time. "And I told ‘em, I said, ‘It's time. My time is up here in Jacksonville.'"

Unsurprisingly, it didn't take Jaguars fans long to seize on the news and make light of it.