Trevor Lawrence details excitement over playing with Calvin Ridley
Trevor Lawrence has a new weapon for the 2023 season: Calvin Ridley. The Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South and made it to the AFC Divisional Round last season and now they get Ridley off a year-long-layoff.
Riley served a year suspension due to gambling on NFL games. But the Jaguars signed him in 2022 and Lawrence couldn’t wait to work with the former Alabama star.
Ridley shined during his time with the Atlanta Falcons and now he adds a new dimension to Jacksonville with Lawrence.
“We have (thrown together) once and I’m super excited,” Lawrence said, via the Florida Times-Union. “We’re just excited to have him. He’s gonna be another piece for this offense and our team and (he’s) just a good guy that we’re excited to bring into the locker room. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Ridley last played in 2021, just five games though, and had 31 catches, 281 yards and two touchdowns. Over the course of his career, Ridley steadily improved, including a career best 1,374 yards in 2020.
In four seasons, Ridley has 284 catches, 3,342 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13.5 yards per catch.
Last year, Lawrence improved in his second season and first under Doug Pederson. He had 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 66.3% completion percentage.
The duo together could shine bright.
Ridley, a former Alabama first-rounder saw a therapist to work through issues with his past and the problems in his present – mainly, the perceptions of others following his suspension.
“People have questioned my toughness and my character,” Ridley said. “But I don’t think most of those people could’ve lived the life I lived and even made it off the porch, let alone made it to the NFL.”
A story only the wideout himself could tell, he laid out his troubled upbringing and the journey he embarked on to the NFL. A former ward of the foster care system, Ridley developed his love for the game at an early age. The happiness that he felt playing football then is the same happiness he feels on the field today. Fully healthy, Ridley is ready to give the Jaguars his all.
“Right now, I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt — mentally and physically,” Ridley wrote. “On the field, I’m flying. Believe me, I’m flying. That GPS band don’t lie. On my daughter’s name, if I’m healthy? With Trevor Lawrence? I’m giving Jacksonville 1,400 yards a season, period.”