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'Not up to me': Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley talks free agency, '23 season and Trevor Lawrence
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- 'Not up to me': Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley talks free agency, '23 season and Trevor Lawrence
There's no question that the Jacksonville Jaguars and receiver Calvin Ridle y will have a lot to think about as the new league year approaches.
The Jaguars traded for Ridley during the 2022 season at the trade deadline. At the time, Ridley was still serving a suspension before being reinstated in March 2023. Ridley went on to play and start all 17 games for Jacksonville. He never appeared on the team's injury report.
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"I'm pretty proud of playing and practicing every practice. Playing in every game, I'm pretty proud of that," Ridley said Monday as he and the rest of the team packed their bags for the offseason.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) lines up before the snap during the third quarter of a regular season NFL football matchup Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-7. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
Ridley led the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns this past season, accounting for 76 catches for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns. He also drew a team-high eight pass-interference penalties for 136 yards.
It was Ridley's first season after missing the entire 2022 season and all but five games of the 2021 season. Essentially, he took two years off away from football.
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Even though, statistically, this was Ridley's second-best season as a pro after hauling in 90 passes for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020, he said of the season that "personally, it wasn't everything that I wanted," and he was still working his way back, attempting to figure out the game again.
"I think I've been proving that I can still run. As long as I can run and cut, I know I can play," Ridley said when asked about what he proved this year.
"I just needed to be more focused, more dialed in and figure out my routine faster. Figuring out how to get back into the flow of it faster, it's not as easy as people think. I was trying to figure out faster and remember those situations, those one-on-one situations, just figuring the game out. I think next year will be a better year for me for sure, just to get this year under my belt was important though."
Ridley hadn't suited up to play organized football since Oct. 24, 2021. The results were an up-and-down season that included some mental errors, but also a player that brought a unique element to Jacksonville's offense that hasn't been completely realized yet.
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'It's not up to me': Calvin Ridley wants to, but unsure if he will re-sign with Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley (0), seen here going to the ground against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, did what most NFL players do in free agency and took a whopping $92 million contract from hated AFC South rival Tennessee Titans.
When the new league year begins on March 13, Ridley will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. He's looking forward to it, but said "of course" he wants to continue his journey in Jacksonville.
"I learned these guys, built relationships with them. I don't really care to learn other people and plays and all the other stuff right now. God is going to find out where I belong and if the money is right, I do need some of that, we'll figure it out," said Ridley. "I'm going to hit this offseason for me personally to get better. I'm coming back and I'm happy about my play."
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If the Jaguars re-sign Ridley to a long-term deal, they'll owe the Atlanta Falcons a second-round pick. If he is not signed to a long-term deal or contract extension by the new league year, the team will owe the Falcons a third-round pick based on Ridley's playtime and stats this season with Jacksonville.
When asked again if he would prefer to play in Jacksonville next year, Ridley said that there are a lot of things that have to be right, adding "it's not up to me."
"I feel young, I can run fast still, I'll tell you that. It's whoever wants a good player, I'll tell you that," Ridley said about playing for any of the other teams.
The Jaguars want to keep Ridley, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said Monday, but it's a business.
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"He made us better as a team and you hope that things potentially work out, you never know how things go. It's acrazy business, but Calvin was definitely a bright spot for us offensively," Pederson said.
'Trevor Lawrence is young': Calvin Ridley speaks candidly about chemistry with Lawrence
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) greets teammate wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) after he pulled in a Lawrence pass for a touchdown late in the third quarter. The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, FL Sunday, November 19, 2023. The Jaguars led 13 to 0 at the half and walked away with a 34 to 14 win over the Titans. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]
Much of the 2023 season narrative surrounding Ridley was his relationship with the team's top signal-caller on the gridiron.
At times, it seemed as though the two weren't on the same page . Monday, Ridley talked candidly about his relationship with Lawrence, noting that the two need more time together.
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"Trevor is young, he has so much growth. He's growing, he's still learning. Me and Trevor, obviously we only had one year together. Sometimes we weren't there because we didn't have the chemistry," said Ridley.
"As opposed to Kirk [WR Christian Kirk] and Zay [WR Zay Jones] and Engram [TE Evan Engram], they all have pretty good chemistry. It looks a little different when they target him. With us, we needed a little bit more time honestly."
Though he led the team in receiving yards, Ridley was sixth in catch percentage at 55.9% among Jaguars receivers who had at least 20 targets last year. Ridley had 136 targets with 76 receptions. The only player with a worse catch percentage among those that had 230 or more targets was Zay Jones at 53.1%.
Some of that is due to chemistry with the QB and partially because of Ridley's time away from the game.
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"I came straight out of suspension. Just one day, they told me I could come back. I drove, I flew here, everything was fast for me. It's not an excuse or anything, but we were rushed," Ridley said.
"We worked as hard as we could with the time and honestly, we worked ourselves tired. I could admit that right now. We did everything, we tried everything. We threw, we ran, we were sore, we were hurt. We did everything and unfortunately, we didn't get the results that we wanted. We worked for it though."
If Ridley is back in teal and black next year, he's expected to reach the next level. He's going to make sure of that.
"Towards the end of the season, I was feeling a lot better. Just knowing everything and seeing it clearer, just not feeling tired or sore or anything anymore," he said. "I found a good routine, I found good space. I'm going to build from that and definitely try to fix the bull — that I have. I like me, I love me. I just got to hit this offseason good and I know now how to train this offseason and what I need to do."
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Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 .
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Calvin Ridley unsure of landing spot with free agency looming
