The Jaguars appear to be on the upswing after winning the AFC South in 2022 and completing a stunning postseason comeback over the Chargers in the Wild Card round.
One move the club made during the season seems to already be paying off for the offense.
Jacksonville traded for Calvin Ridley in November while the receiver was serving a suspension for gambling on NFL games. Now that Ridley’s been reinstated, he’s already impressed his new quarterback.
“He’s been awesome. 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,” Trevor Lawrence said in his Wednesday press conference. “And then on the field, he’s a freak — just the way he runs routes, how explosive he is, great hands. Seems like he’s picking stuff up. Obviously, we just started, but it seems like he’s picking it up pretty quickly. And he has that experience — he’s played for a few years so he’s used to having some new systems, having to learn that. And some stuff, obviously, carries over through offenses.
“But he’s been great. I’m just excited to have him be a part of our room. It seems like he’s really jelling with the guys great. I mean, it’s not the hardest group to jell with — Christian and Zay and those guys are awesome. I think they treat guys well and they’ve kind of brought him in. It’s going really well. He seems super hungry and ready to go.”
Lawrence added that because he and most of his teammates already know the offense, it’s easier to help Ridley and other new Jags integrate into the scheme.
“Obviously it’s easier for me because, one, I’m not trying to learn it myself because I already know our system. But then, I’m also not trying to communicate that with 10 different guys. It’s really just a few guys that are new that you’re trying to explain [something to] — whether it’s footwork or how we run certain routes or kind of what we’re thinking. And I can say, ‘Hey, on this route, watch Zay [Jones], watch Christian [Kirk] — that’s how we’re running it. And they can kind of tell you all their splits and all that stuff.’ And they can help him just as much as I can.”
Ridley, the 26th overall pick of the 2018 draft, had a career-high 90 catches for 1,374 yards with nine touchdowns in 2020, which was his last full season.