JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Doug Marrone is ready for primetime on Thursday night.
Jalen Ramsey will be there, still wearing a Jaguars uniform, too.
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The Jaguars coach said that the Pro Bowl cornerback will be in the lineup Thursday night when Jacksonville hosts Tennessee at 8:20 p.m., putting to rest speculation that the team could sit him as a potential trade brews. Ramsey's status has been in question since a Monday afternoon bombshell that he asked the Jaguars to trade him.
Marrone said he and Ramsey finally met on Tuesday and had a discussion about what had transpired between them since a Week 2 game at Houston that triggered a very prickly trade request. Ramsey and Marrone had a very animated interaction on the sideline in the first half of Sunday's 13-12 loss and that image snowballed into a public relations nightmare.
Marrone downplayed the incident after the game and again in his Monday press conference. Hours after Marrone said that it was no big deal and Ramsey wouldn't face any discipline for the outburst, multiple media outlets reported that Ramsey and his agent, David Mulugheta, had requested a trade.
"Jalen and I have always had a good, open relationship where we've always been able to talk and we sat down yesterday we talked about what's gone on as far as he and I," Marrone said. "It's like anything else in this profession, it's behind us now. His focus is on playing and doing the best job for his teammates, and then my job is being able to do the best job for the team, so that's behind us right now."
Ramsey addressed the media Tuesday in a bizarre press conference where he didn't address his trade demands specifically, and said that he would continue to be the player that he's always been for as long as he was in Jacksonville.
Marrone said that reports that he and Ramsey have had a strained relationship don't emanate from his side.
"Again you'd have to ask him [about their relationship], but from my standpoint, absolutely, I've always felt we've been able to talk, been able to sit down," Marrone said. "We have in the past, from multiple things that have come up, from when he's been here and when he's been at home in Tennessee."
While Jalen Ramsey has dominated the NFL news cycle this week, the Jaguars received positive news on the offensive line. Marrone said that Cam Robinson would start at left tackle against the Titans and Will Richardson, who had started in Robinson's absence, would also be available. Cedric Ogbuehi, who had been battling a hamstring issue, will also be available.