LA Rams Jalen Ramsey Taylor Rapp early fracas a bad omen

As the LA Rams open the week 17 contest against the Baltimore Ravens, you would think that high-running emotions might break out in skirmishes with the LA Rams players facing off against the Baltimore Ravens players. But you would never have guessed that the first fight in the Week 17 contest was a fight that broke out between LA Rams players.

It happened as the LA Rams defense huddled up, and it appeared that All-Pro defensive back Jalen Ramsey threw a half-hearted hand into the face of defensive back Taylor Rapp. While there could be reasons for defensive players to be upset with their teammates, you never see that erupt in physical contact.

Well, almost never.  It’s Week 17 of a crazy season so far, so why not?

We know that Taylor Rapp is subject to plenty of mental lapses in pass coverage, and oftentimes it’s up to Jalen Ramsey to make up the difference. The Baltimore Ravens had a bit of early success in the passing game.

The Ravens opened their first offensive drive by running on each first down and then completing three successive passes on second down. Perhaps Ramsey was upset at the Ravens’ early success in passing the ball. After all, Rapp has been noticeably weak in pass defense and has been known to completely miss his coverage assignment to yield huge games to opposing receivers in the past.

Or it may have been a verbal exchange between two very competitive defensive backs who were simply frustrated in a very important game.

Whatever the case, the Rams need to settle down because this game is quickly turning into a low-scoring defensive struggle early.