Calvin Ridley met with the media right after participating in a Tuesday morning Falcons walk-through. That in itself is a sign the top-tier receiver is recovering well from minor offseason foot surgery.
Ridley has participated extensively in this Falcons offseason program despite the physical setback, even if he hasn't been around for portions open to the press. He didn't think his offseason program routine was terribly different than others, save the fact he's not ready practice full speed.
"[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."
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Installing and implementing new schemes is this offseason's primary focus, with head coach Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Dean Pees expecting players to hit the ground running come training camp. Missing practice isn't ideal, but Ridley being around for other aspects of OTA and minicamp dates should help him once he's fully healthy again.
"He's done a nice job in the things that we've asked him to do," Smith said Monday. "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."
Ridley said he’s “pretty sure” that he'll be ready for training camp in late July, though that remains a bit of an unknown at this stage. He also said surgery fixed an ailment that occurred last season, not from 2021 offseason work, and that he's doing well at this stage of his recovery.
"It was just minor," Ridley said. "I can walk and all that right now. I'm taking it one day at a time."
