The NFL could hand down disciplinary action after Jalen Ramsey and Golden Tate got into a physical altercation on Sunday, but New York Giants head coach Joe Judge says his player was merely defending himself.
Judge told reporters on Monday that several players who witnessed the fight said Tate was defending himself after Ramsey threw a swing. The implication is that the Los Angeles Rams cornerback is the only one who threw a punch.
“Look, all I have to say is the account I got from a number of our players — there is a history obviously between them, and there was a punch thrown. Golden was defending himself,” Judge said, via ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. “I was told he wasn’t the one who threw the punch. And everybody involved was trying to break it up.”
The NFL, Giants and Rams are all looking into the incident, but Raanan reports that neither Tate nor Ramsey is expected to be suspended. Either player could be disciplined by his respective team even if the NFL does nothing, but Judge says he does not feel there is any need for the Giants to take action against Tate.
“Based on the information I was given and what I saw with my own eyes and what our players gave me, it didn’t sound like there was an immediate need for discipline,” Judge said. “But we’ll look into it if there is. Obviously we’ll always take care of our players.”
It was difficult to tell who started the fight, as players immediately gathered around to diffuse the situation. You can see a video of the scuffle here.
As Judge mentioned, there is a lot of history between the two players. Ramsey previously dated and had two kids with Tate’s sister Breanna. The two split last year, with reports indicating that Ramsey left her while she was pregnant.
Ramsey reportedly tried to confront Tate again outside the Giants’ locker room following the on-field altercation. That is something the NFL could take into consideration.
