Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan says his team is "doing just fine" after trading one of its best players.
Khan issued that statement Wednesday, some 16-hours after approving the trade of two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams for three draft picks.
WJCT sports analyst Cole Pepper said the handwriting was on the wall after Sunday’s game.
“When Shad Khan announced on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in an interview that Ramsey was going to play this past week against the New Orleans Saints and then Ramsey didn’t, basically when you show up the team’s owner, you’re going to be gone.”
Ramsey sat out the past three games with a back injury. The Associated Press reported some people inside the organization think the reported injury was either made up or exaggerated to avoid playing for the Jaguars.
“In the short term I think a lot of Jags players are going to be relieved they don’t have to deal with this anymore. In the long term they’re going to be wondering how they’re going to replace a guy of Jalen Ramsey’s quality. The answer is they will not be able to do that directly. And they certainly won’t be able to do it before the off-season comes up,” said Pepper.
Ramsey leaves the Jaguars one month after he asked for a trade following a sideline exchange with coach Doug Marrone and a less-public confrontation with personnel chief Tom Coughlin.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter at @cydwjctnews.
