Prior to the Atlanta Falcons’ Week 8 matchup against the Carolina Panthers, the team ruled out star wide receiver Calvin Ridley for personal reasons. Ridley announced shortly after that he was stepping away from football to prioritize his mental health.
Up until this point, we hadn’t had any kind of time frame regarding his potential return. On Friday, the Falcons placed Ridley on the non-football injury list, meaning he will be out a minimum of three weeks.
The #Falcons placed WR Calvin Ridley on the reserve-NFI list, and per league rules, he has to miss three weeks minimum.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 5, 2021
Atlanta signed veteran Marvin Hall to the practice squad earlier this week, but that’s not going to be enough to replace the team’s No. 1 wide receiver. Without Ridley in Week 8, rookie Kyle Pitts had arguably his worst game of the year.
The Falcons could look for outside help in Ridley’s absence. Two big names, Odell Beckham Jr. and DeSean Jackson just hit the free-agent market and despite the team’s lack of cap space, Atlanta could be compelled to add someone to carry the load for the next three weeks at least.
Ridley has 31 catches for 281 yards and two touchdowns thus far in 2021.
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