Jaguars' Calvin Ridley Says He's One of NFL's 'Better' WRs After Gambling Suspension

Calvin Ridley hasn't played a football game since Oct. 24, 2021, missing the entire 2022 campaign after he was suspended for gambling on NFL games.

But the new Jacksonville Jaguars wideout believes he'll return to the game better than ever.

"I've been pretty good at football all my life, and I not only have been good, I also worked to be good. They say two years off, but what about the healing process? ... What if I got faster? What if I got stronger?" Ridley told reporters. "Obviously, I got wiser. Why can't I be better?"

The 28-year-old was emerging as one of the best wideouts in football during his time in Atlanta, registering 90 catches for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020, all on a broken foot. And he believes he can return to that level.

"I am a 1,400-yard type of player. God is gonna determine what type of stats I am gonna have," he said. "Football is serious. I mean, you don't just play 17 games straight and think you're gonna be in every one of them and playing healthy in all of them. So what I'm saying is I am a 1,400-yard receiver with a broken foot. ... So I know that I could make the plays, and I know that I'm one of the better receivers in this league. That's what I'm saying."

Ridley was reinstated by the NFL on March 6 after serving a season-long suspension for betting on NFL games in Nov. 2021. The wideout said in an article last month for The Players' Tribune that he had been suffering from "stress, depression, anxiety" after taking painkillers to battle through a broken foot in the 2020 season and continuing to take them for foot pain in the 2021 campaign.

Additionally, he said his home had been broken into by several armed burglars in Sept. 2021 and that he struggled being away from his wife and daughter after that incident. He eventually decided to step away from the Atlanta Falcons in late October of that year, and his gambling infractions occurred during his hiatus from the team.

"I just f--ked up. Period," Ridley wrote about the gambling in March. "In a dark moment, I made a stupid mistake. I wasn't trying to cheat the game. That's the thing I want to make clear. At the time, I had been completely away from the team for about a month. I was still just so depressed and angry, and the days were so long. I was looking for anything to take my mind off of things and make the day go by faster."

In Nov. 2022, the Falcons traded Ridley to the Jaguars for a 2023 fifth-rounder and a conditional 2024 fourth-rounder that could become a second-round selection if Ridley signs an extension in Jacksonville.

Now, he'll join a dangerous Jacksonville offense that also includes quarterback Trevor Lawrence, wideouts Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, running back Travis Etienne Jr. and tight end Evan Engram.

The Jags, fresh off a playoff appearance, look to have one of the best young teams in football. And if Ridley can hit the ground running, they'll be all the more dynamic.

"He's been awesome," Lawrence said of Ridley. "He's hungry. He's excited to be here. He's got the right attitude. I think that's the biggest thing that I've noticed. On the field, he's a freak, just the way he runs routes, how explosive he is. We just started, but it seems like he's picking [the offense] up pretty quickly."