NASHVILLE - Wide receiver Calvin Ridley has truly been excellent since joining the Tennessee Titans on a four-year, $92 million contract this offseason.
Ridley has immediately fit in with the team, handled questions from the media with personality, and shined in between the lines during practices.
Watching Ridley go to work with this Titans offense in practice has only given me more confidence that the 29-year-old wide receiver is due for a big season. He possesses explosive speed, is a crisp route-runner, and has taken over a number of Titans practices.
But during joint practices with the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday , Ridley did not have his best day. After practice concluded, Tennessee's 92 million dollar man owned up to his first really bad moment in a Titans uniform.
For much of training camp, the connection between Ridley and quarterback Will Levis has been a storyline. Because of Ridley's sudden speed that I previously mentioned, Levis has had a hard time getting on the same page and delivering accurate deep balls after Ridley burns his defender.
It's normal. Levis has just needed some time to learn how Ridley runs his routes and gets out of his breaks. He has needed some reps to time up a deep shot when Ridley is running at full speed...And for a bit, it seemed like time was healing all wounds.
Levis and Ridley have had some wildly succesful practices together. And with DeAndre Hopkins out with a knee injury, Ridley has quickly become his quarterback's favorite target. At times, Ridley has been simply unguardable in man coverage.
But things looked out of sync on Wednesday. Not only was Ridley well covered by Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen during the 1-on-1 drills, both deep shots from Levis to Ridley fell incomplete. It kept looking like Ridley had separation, but Levis' pass always ended up being too far for his guy. What happened to all their progress they made?
"Its never going to be a linear process," said Titans head coach Brian Callahan when asked if Levis and Ridley took a step back in developing their chemistry. But sure enough, Ridley took the blame for the disconnect when he spoke with the media after practice. And it's certainly not his most flattering moment in a Titans uniform.
"I got passed the guy, but my energy man...it wasn't there. I just wasn't finishing or running hard enough," Ridley said when asked about the deep passes from Levis that fell incomplete. "The ball came out and I was like 'damn...it's out there.' I've just got to run full speed the whole time."
Despite the struggles in today's practice, Ridley is confident that he and Levis are on the same page and will have no problems completing those passes in games .
"We've got it down. We just got to run. We've got it down, I promise you that," said Ridley.
Look...I give Ridley a lot of credit for owning his mistake here. No beating around the bush. No excuses. Just straight facts and accountability. It's one of the things I really value about him.
That said, it doesn't excuse not running hard during live reps in joint practices. The Titans are all about establishing a winning culture right now - so much so that Brian Callahan went on about why preseason wins are important after the game on Saturday. You cannot be a $92 million player and not be giving your all in competitive joint practices against another team.
What does that say to your teammates? And even if we put that aside for a moment, how are you supposed to get better and perfect your connection with Will Levis if your effort is inconsistent?
Ridley needs to be better. The good news? He is capable of it and recognizes his mistake. This is just a small blip on the radar for what has otherwise been a magical start to his Titans career.
Related: Notes and takeaways from competitive joint practice between Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks
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