Calvin Ridley dazzled on his Jacksonville Jaguars debut as he played his first regular season game in almost two years on Sunday; watch Ridley's Jags host the Kansas City Chiefs live on Sky Sports NFL from 6pm Sunday, followed by the New York Jets at the Dallas Cowboys.
Sunday 17 September 2023 17:02, UK
Calvin Ridley? Still good, by the way. And Trevor Lawrence? Hair-flipping and defense-splintering his way to a seat in the NFL's premium quarterback lounge with the help of a new best pal.
At around 3.40pm Eastern Time on Monday, March 7, 2022, Ridley - then of the Atlanta Falcons - was suspended indefinitely through the 2022 campaign for violating the league's gambling policy.
At around 1.20pm Eastern Time on Sunday, September 10, 2023 - 686 days on from his last game - he announced his return. As if he had never been away. Debut touchdown chalked up, Jacksonville Jaguars career officially in motion, NFL career reignited. He had not lost a beat.
Ridley sneaked undetected to the back of the endzone with five minutes to play in the first quarter of his side's season-opening win over the Indianapolis Colts, barely flinching a muscle as he cradled his quarterback's off-platform bullet before pivoting and hurling the ball into the wall of the stand with every ounce of pent up relief and frustration in long-awaited festivity.
He was back. And the Jaguars had their No 1 receiver.
Cue closed drapes, an out-of-office attitude to the outside world and Jacksonville fans gawping at endless loops of 'Ridley's Believe It or Not!' return, starring one of the most absurd acts of needle-threading likely to be seen by a quarterback all year courtesy of Lawrence. You watch it, having just missed a 20th attempt at throwing a ball of scrap paper in the bin from five yards away, and wonder 'how?'.
Get ready for more 'how?' from Duval's new duo.
Beyond his suspension had lied layer-upon-layer of personal hardship with which to contend. Ridley announced on October 31, 2021 he would be stepping away from football to dedicate time towards his mental health, ultimately missing the remainder of the campaign as a result.
Addressing his extended absence through The Players' Tribune earlier this offseason, he revealed he had suffered with depression while taking painkillers to help him play through, what he later learned to be, a broken foot during the 2020 season. Ridley meanwhile opened up about how his decision not to travel to London for Atlanta's game at Tottenham on October 10 had stemmed from the discovery that several armed men had broken into his house upon returning home from the Falcons' Week One matchup.
He was later handed an indefinite suspension in March for betting on games before being traded to the Jaguars in November last year, eventually being reinstated this past March 6 and given the green light to resume his career.
Any forecasting as to what he might offer Lawrence and this Jags offense, for all that Ridley had achieved and proven before now, had to be partially theoretical, based on glistening but potentially-dated evidence. Had one of the league's most masterful route-running artists lost his sharpness? Had the play speed and explosion off the line lost some oomph? Had the ability to toy with defensive backs in one-on-one scenarios, glide to immediate separation and bully opponents into retreating into soft coverage shed some of its fright factor during his spell away? Had the feast-at-all-three-levels monster with the cut disguise to sneak and destroy within any nook and cranny, and the robotic stop-start system and the slick catch-and-run transition experienced a drop-off?
Nope. Ridley marked his return with eight catches from 11 targets for 101 yards and one touchdown, bundling in all the teasers of an established lead receiver with whom to mount a playoff assault.
Ironically enough, the Colts elected against giving him lead receiver treatment for his debut touchdown. The Jags would dial up a four-man flood to the boundary side from nine-yards out, Ridley anticipating the pressure squeezing Lawrence into an abort-and-roll and quietly hanging back mid-crosser to fill the gap vacated by Evan Engram's clear-out route to the pylon. Lawrence did the rest, scurrying left and opening up his body before catapulting a crisp strike at a skewed angle off one leg.
Yes it spoke to some shoddy Colts coverage assignments, but so too a seamless connection between quarterback and new chief weapon.
Gus Bradley, as is the way of a Gus Bradley defense, lived in Cover 3 for the majority of the day, dropping the strong safety into the box as added insurance against the Travis Etienne-led run game and splitting the field into three deep thirds, ideally in aim of also reducing the chunk play threat. With that naturally came one-on-one opportunities on the outside along with the zone crevices in which he thrives - Ridley's chance to re-announce himself.
Immediate impact came in the form of four catches on his touchdown drive to open the scoring, including a 24-yard pickup down the sideline that saw him skate Dallis Flowers downfield before leaving the Colts corner stranded with a hockey stop turn to begin his comeback, by which point Lawrence had already released the ball in his direction and started lining up for the next play. Not quite, but you get the picture. Lawrence knew he would be there, Ridley knew the ball was coming, the latter reminding all that his stutter-step and change in direction of the top of routes remains among the most deadly in the league.
As Bradley's defense backed off in their zone alignment in a bid to thwart the verticals, the Jags sought to mix it up by reining Ridley in for a check down that would set up a five-yard catch-and-run behind a motioning blocker. Then followed a wide receiver screen in which Ridley became the feature from a three-man bunch, center Luke Fortner stepping up as if to feint the duo run and delaying the linebackers from sliding across in support.
Ridley and Lawrence were the puppeteers of the Jags' desired architectural diversity, the Colts having to account for a three-level receiver threat along with a horizontal battle in which Doug Pederson, during the same drive, shifted into 13 personnel before pulling two tight ends as backside blockers to seal Etienne's inside lane.
Already there was a will and desire to maximise his route tree.
Lawrence's 'nail it up in the Louvre' moment came on a second-and-two in the second quarter; yes, Ridley was there.
A pre-snap jet-sweep motion from Zay Jones would serve as something of a clear-out route in collaring three Colts second-level defenders to their right, at which time Ridley was already hurtling on a crossing route in the opposite direction. With pressure coming from Tyquan Lewis, Lawrence let rip with the ball placement that defied 'there's no way Indiana Jones can slide under that gap' logic to nestle into the hands of Ridley, whose concentration might have easily wavered in anticipation of a pick or break-up. The pass had a 23.2 per cent completion probability, per Next Gen Stats; what may have been Lawrence's dazzling moment was also the instant foundation for trust on which the two can build one of the league's most potent fraternities.
There, too, came a glimpse of the ease at which Ridley plucks balls mid-route while managing to maintain speed in his yards-after-catch transition.
Another would follow, this one a more glaring example of Ridley piercing zone coverage with an unplayable and unreadable stop-and-swivel to split the corner and nickel - frozen momentarily by the flat route - before making the catch and taking off for 29 yards. It had interestingly stemmed from a wing-T look with Brenton Strange offset to the left after motioning inside to draw the Colts defense up.
Without the Jags offense setting the world alight - the inside zone/duo-orientated run game was largely contained for much of the game - Ridley declared his route and break concealment, the boulder-effect sustenance to his downfield speed, the disorientating head feints mid-route and reliable hands in traffic officially back open for business.
The Jags are counting on the Ridley of 2020, who put up 1,374 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, still being there, and so too the Ridley who would crush man coverage with the Falcons.
His introduction, and seemingly instant chemistry, is not only a necessary next step in Lawrence's growth, but an alleviating component to Press Taylor after the 35-year-old offensive coordinator was entrusted with play-calling duties this past offseason. That Ridley leapt to the top of the Jags' route participation percentages, Christian Kirk's declining in the process, spoke to the arrival of a recognised No 1 in a unit that ranked as high as 10th in scoring and total offense last season.
Rustiness? What rustiness? Ridley's return adds a whole new dynamic to this Jags offense.
Watch the Kansas City Chiefs at the Jacksonville Jaguars live on Sky Sports NFL from 6pm Sunday, followed by New York Jets on the road against the Dallas Cowboys from 9.25pm; the Miami Dolphins then take on the New England Patriots in Sunday Night Football.
