LA Rams star DB Jalen Ramsey shrugs off practice misconception

To hear the social media version of the LA Rams joint practice session yesterday, there was a lot of boastfulness and posturing by some folks about the Las Vegas Raiders success of their wide receiver Hunter Renfrow against the Rams All-Pro defensive back Jalen Ramsey. It began as some observers Tweeters flooded social media with reports that Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow had plenty of success against Ramsey ‘multiple times.’

That’s the perspective that made its way into social media and from there every single LV Raiders fan, blogger, or Monday Morning QB was running with it.  The easy part of observing a defense is recognizing when the offense makes a good play. The challenge is in attributing the offensive success to a singular player. Busted coverage? Miscommunication? No clean handoff? That’s never coming out of a joint practice session.  Jalen Ramsey was on the football field, a receiver got open. It had to be Ramsey’s responsibility, right?

But these were observations from a sideline, not looking down on the field. With a rotating and deceptive coverage, you can’t truly be expected to diagnose coverages on a receiver, can you? But you can trigger interest, likes, retweets if you claim that Ramsey was beaten constantly.  In fact, while it’s likely to get a lot of attention with the name Jalen Ramsey in the sentence, plop a name like Robert Rochell or Kareem Orr and people will pass it right on by.

Another perspective, another game?

That is the scenario that Jalen Ramsey portrayed today in his press conference. The coverage wasn’t man. The coverages weren’t on Ramsey. The ‘blame’ didn’t go his way.  It was almost as though there were two different practices. Or two different perspectives. One with knowledge of the defensive play. The other baiting to get Twitter clicks.

So which is the truth?

Most likely somewhere in the middle. Renfrow likely had a good day. It’s a fair guess that the Rams secondary struggled in coverages that didn’t above Ramsey from all wrongdoings. But it was a casual practice and the LA Rams secondary has at least two players out there trying to learn their starting role. One of them is Taylor Rapp, who has been a question mark in the minds of many as to his ability to deliver consistent coverage.

In the end, this is indeed practice. The LA Rams can’t tackle. By rights, everything is no faster than 60 percent speed. Offenses get scripted downs and distance. It’s the NFL version of a movie, right down to the ‘no animals were harmed.’ disclaimer notification at the end. And so, I’m more likely to believe that the ‘Ramsey got burned’ memes are premature.

In the end, Renfrow got some catches at joint practice. But it wasn’t at Ramsey’s expense.