Jalen Ramsey's blue flu will not help him get what he wants – ProFootballTalk

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Jalen Ramsey plays with the bad navy.

Although the Jaguars V.P Tom Coughlin has a well-deserved reputation for being excessively tough with football players. Coughlin, rightly, will not react well to Ramsey's ill-conceived ploy to force an exchange by simulating the disease.

And he pretends to be sick. ESPN's Adam Schefter set the stage for what's going on over the weekend when he suggested Ramsey "find[] a reason not to practice, "setting the stage for a confrontation.

ESPN's Josina Anderson says the disease is legitimate: "I'm told that Jalen Ramsey is in fact legally ill as if by chance, while she was asking for an exchange. As for the time it will take, I understand that it's day-to-day, I'm told, "All I know is that it can not be safe." to train today.

He may not be able to practice (if he is legitimately ill), but he can still come to work. Especially since he works in a place where, you know, health care workers and medications are immediately available.

No one (other than Anderson) buys it, and it will make Coughlin angry. It will also make Coughlin even more determined to stay firm.

This could also affect Ramsey's status in the eyes of other teams, who may be less likely to trade for a guy who might attempt the same scheme at some point in the future.

For many players in the league, simulating an illness or injury is like crossing an impossible line to uncross. This speaks, would say a lot, to the heart and character of a football player. This reality makes it all the more important – if Ramsey is really sick – that he does everything in his power to report to the establishment and allow the Jaguars to confirm for themselves that He is really suffering from an illness that could prevent him from practicing because of the strangely fortuitous nature of the situation.

Ramsey needs to know what it looks like, if he's really sick. And he has to worry enough about his appearance to make sure no one thinks he is simulating an illness. To say that he is "really legally ill" in an area that lives on information and access is not the way to give the impression that he is not pretending it.