Wide receiver Calvin Ridley made a big splash in his Jaguars debut, but the last two weeks haven’t been as productive.
Ridley returned from more than a year off the field with eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Colts, but he’s had just five catches for 72 yards in back-to-back losses the last two weeks. Last Sunday’s three catches in a loss to the Texans were overshadowed by two drops and two false start penalties, which led head coach Doug Pederson to say that Ridley needs to press less while trusting himself more.
“I grabbed him coming off the field and I reiterated to him to take a deep breath, stay locked in, stay engaged,” Pederson said, via the team’s website. “I told him he was a big part of our system and the offense and he’s going to have a lot of success. I just wanted to reiterate that confidence in him. Calvin wants to do so well, so good, so much. He wants to prove, but he doesn’t have to. He’s a good player and he doesn’t have to do all that. Just be Calvin.”
Pederson also said this week that he thinks the team has been overly concerned with their preseason expectations as a whole and needs to do more to focus on the tasks at hand. That’s similar to what Pederson is proposing for Ridley and all involved will have two weeks in London to use as a chance to recalibrate.
