Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley took a step in the right direction simply by changing his cleats.
Ridley sat out practice Tuesday because he was dealing with what the team termed a minor toe injury, coach Doug Pederson confirmed Wednesday.
But Pederson clarified that Ridley was good to go now that he punted his ill-fitting cleats.
“He’ll be fine. We were sort of cautionary with him yesterday,” Pederson said, per the Florida Times-Union. “He’ll be back out there today and we’ll just monitor him and limit the amount of running that he’ll do.”
The Jaguars are hoping for a big comeback this season from Ridley, who served a year-long NFL suspension in 2022 for betting on football games and hasn’t played a full season since 2020.
Ridley, 28, played in only five games with the Atlanta Falcons in 2021 before stepping away to focus on his mental health. He posted career highs in 2020 with 90 catches for 1,374 yards.
The Jaguars acquired him at the trade deadline last Nov. 1, sending a 2023 fifth-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-rounder that could potentially become a second-round pick to the Falcons.
He caught 248 passes for 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns in 49 games (35 starts) with the Falcons, who drafted him in the first round out of Alabama in 2018.
The Jaguars open the preseason at Dallas on Aug. 12 and kick off the regular season at AFC South rival Indianapolis on Sept. 10.
–Field Level Media
