National Football League

Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley reinstated, 'rejuvenated' and 'chasing greatness'

Updated Apr. 17, 2023 6:05 p.m. ET

Mike Locksley needed to restrain Calvin Ridley multiple times.

There was that time Ridley, then a star receiver at the University of Alabama, hosted a highly touted recruit named Jaylen Waddle. Instead of taking Waddle through the typical visit script — take him out, show him the hang-out spots near campus — Ridley took him to the football facility. They ran routes and polished their footwork for hours instead of partying.

The next day, Waddle told Locksley, then an offensive assistant for the Crimson Tide, how they spent the night.

Locksley went to Ridley and told him, "You need to use Fridays and Saturdays to rest."

And before the College Football Playoff one year, because of how much Ridley had worn down his body from extra practice, Locksley worked with Alabama's sports nutritionist to put together the "Calvin Ridley Get Recharged Plan." They required Ridley to follow it. It structured his days in the weeks ahead of the playoff game — what time to wake up, what he should eat, how to recover, when to nap.

"He was one of those guys that we kind of had to hold him back because he would overwork himself at times," said Locksley, now the head coach at Maryland.

He'll bring that intensity to Jacksonville.

Ridley, recently reinstated into the NFL after serving a year-long suspension for violating the league's gambling policy, begins the offseason program with the Jaguars this week. It brings him one step closer to making his highly anticipated debut with Jacksonville after the team acquired him from Atlanta last November for two draft picks. On paper, he gives rising quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the defending AFC South champions a bona fide No. 1 receiver.

In recent interviews with FOX Sports, several people who've worked with Ridley said he returns to the NFL with a chip on his shoulder, but he is also grateful to be back and appears to have found peace mentally.

"He's chasing greatness," said Christian Blake, a childhood friend and ex-Falcons teammate.

In a piece published last month in The Players' Tribune, Ridley said gambling was the worst mistake of his life and also revealed that he has battled depression and anxiety. He explained that his body broke down — he played most of the 2020 season with a broken foot — and that he came home with his wife and daughter after Week 1 of the 2020 season to find that his home had been robbed by armed burglars. It heightened his anxiety, fueling a desire to be home with his family. It led him to seek help and step away from the Falcons.

Locksley understood.

In Tuscaloosa, they had plenty of deep conversations about Ridley's loved ones. He had a clear goal: turn pro after three years so he could take care of his family as quickly as possible.

As a child, he had to be a father figure to his younger brothers in foster care amid his mother's absence and father's deportation to Guyana.

"Everything about Calvin starts with his family," Locksley said. "If his family isn't safe and comfortable, or that he doesn't have a comfort level that they're good, then he's not going to be good.

"I don't think he ever took football for granted," he continued. "Everybody focuses on the suspension, obviously for the gambling. But nobody focused on the issues he was going through mentally. Maybe some people tried to mention it, but it was real, and it was something that really affected him."

Locksley feels that the 28-year-old receiver is in a "great place" now, based on conversations they've had. The two have remained close over the years. They FaceTime often. Last summer, Ridley visited Maryland to train and mentored some of the Terrapins receivers.

"He's back with that big smile on his face," Locksley said. "He's rejuvenated. I think you'll see a better Calvin Ridley. I think this year off has been a gift for him somewhat because it forced him to slow down."

His intensity toward football, however, has remained the same.

Trainer Nick Hicks, co-owner and director of performance for South Florida-based Per4orm sports and fitness training gym, worked with Ridley for the first time this offseason, with one of his clients, Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy, making the connection.

In a short amount of time, Ridley established himself as a leader of Hicks' training group of NFL players. Ridley was the first to arrive for workouts. If somebody showed up late, he'd get on them.

"He just knows that this football stuff can be taken away from you," Hicks said. "Don't take any of it for granted. And that goes from playing the actual game to practice to training all offseason."

Football-wise, the Jaguars are getting one of the NFL's best wide receivers and an elite route runner in Ridley. In 2020, his last full season, his 1,374 receiving yards were sixth-highest in the NFL. Of the five receivers ahead of him, just one — then-rookie Justin Jefferson — averaged more yards per reception.

Ridley averaged 91.6 yards per game that season, fourth in the league — on a broken foot.

NFL receiver Mohamed Sanu, a teammate in Atlanta from 2019-20, believes Ridley could be a top-three receiver in the league next season.

"I call him a once in a generation kind of guy that can do it all," Sanu said, "run every route in the book and do it at a high level and make people disappear."

In the locker room, the Jaguars are getting a team-first player in Ridley, several people who know the receiver told FOX Sports.

In Atlanta, he was the No. 3 option as a rookie behind Julio Jones and Sanu. He was the No. 2 option behind Jones his second season. As a junior at Alabama, he shared the spotlight with future NFL receivers in Jeudy, DeVonta Smith and Henry Ruggs.

Three returning Jaguars had at least 70 receptions last season — tight end Evan Engram, and receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones — so Ridley will be asked to share the spotlight offensively.

"He didn't have that prima donna," Locksley said of Ridley's time at Alabama. "He's a guy who's willing to sacrifice his numbers for the team to win. And it's genuine. It's not for show."

Calvin Davis, Ridley's coach at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida, remembers how funny Ridley was as a teenager. He was always happy, always joking, always making faces.

But he didn't mess around when it came to football. He understood that he needed to keep his grades high so the game couldn't be taken away from him. When college coaches and recruiters called before his high school games, Ridley told Davis he couldn't talk to them. He had a task at hand.

"He wanted to be great," Davis said, "so he understood what he had to do in order to get to that point."

The journey continues in Jacksonville.

"I'd say he'll be one of the guys who'll be in the best shape of his life because to be able to take a year off and get his body healthy and get his mind healthy, that's the part people underestimate," Locksley said of Ridley coming into 2023. "I think that year off really gave him a perspective that he's very grateful to be able to play this game again and to be able to continue to move forward with solidifying his family from a financial standpoint.

"And show people that he's still the type of player he was before the suspension."

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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