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Last week we found out that Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley had undergone “minor” foot surgery and will miss mandatory minicamp.
The Falcons No. 1 wideout gave an update on Tuesday and emphasized that the surgery was not major.
“It was just minor,” Ridley told reporters following the Falcons’ morning walk-through. “I can walk and all that right now. I’m taking it one day at a time.”
Despite not being up to full speed on the field, Ridley is still behind the scenes doing everything he can to prepare for the 2021 season.
“[It’s} regular, with meetings and treatment,” Ridley said. “I did walk throughs. You just didn’t see me on the field. I’m doing regular things. I did a walk-through just before I came in here. I’m right where those guys are.”
He expects to be ready to go for Falcons preseason training camp, which kicks off at the end of July.
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Ridley is Learning a New Playbook
Obviously, missing practice isn’t ideal for Ridley who is tasked with learning an entirely new system under head coach Arthur Smith. However, Smith is confident in Ridley’s ability to learn the playbook well enough for training camp.
“He’s done a nice job in the things that we’ve asked him to do,” Smith said. “All of these guys, it’s not one size fits all. Every player has a different process that they go about learning new schemes and trying to use different learning tools. Calvin has done a nice job with whatever we’ve asked him to do.”
Where Ridley will fit in Smith’s offense remains a question mark since he has yet to practice with the rest of the team. But, Smith is excited to work with the fourth-year wideout and will get a better sense of his role once he can suit up again.
For now, at minicamp, Russell Gage and Kyle Pitts will be the stars of the show.
Ridley Feels No Pressure to Fill Jones’s Shoes
With Julio Jones no longer in the picture, Ridley will be expected to fill his shoes. He’s not worried about the hefty workload ahead of him since Jones left him with the keys to success.
“Just the confidence [Jones] has every week and being the No. 1 receiver and going out to work every day, I feel like you have to believe in yourself,” Ridley said via ESPN. “And by my second year, that’s when I realized that’s what he’s all about, confidence.
“So when I realized that, I just started to think that, I didn’t think that I’m better than him, but I just believed in myself and I really think that made me a better player. I really believe in myself.”
Ridley notched his first 1,000-yard season last year and has bigger plans for 2021––a long-term contract. The Falcons have liked what they’ve seen thus far from the 26-yeard-old and picked up his fifth-year option this offseason.
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