Falcons' Jones offers advice to rookie Ridley: Don't hang your hat on debut
The Atlanta Falcons took many football fans by surprise in April's draft when they scooped up falling wide receiver Calvin Ridley with their No. 26 pick.
Atlanta already had one of the league's top receivers in veteran Julio Jones and a strong supporting cast led by Mohamed Sanu.
By several accounts, Jones has already taken Ridley under his tutelage and is prepping his fellow Alabama alumnus for his rookie season.
"One of the things I told him was don’t hang your hat on his debut. Don’t worry about that, don’t compare yourself or try to outdo someone else that’s a rookie coming into the league," Jones said, according to Kelsey Conway of AtlantaFalcons.com. "I just told him just work on his craft and just keep working. At the end of the day, you just have to better yourself."
Ridley caught his lone target in his preseason debut against the New York Jets, but went for negative two yards. It was the lone pass thrown by starting quarterback Matt Ryan on the night.
Jones, the sixth overall pick of the 2011 draft, caught five of six targets for 71 yards in his regular-season debut against the Chicago Bears.
Ridley will get his next chance to impress on Friday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.