ATLANTA — Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley will not play in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers — the second game he’ll miss due to an undisclosed personal matter.
Ridley did not travel with the team for an Oct. 10 game in England against the New York Jets. He did play against the Miami Dolphins last week.
The 26-year-old Ridley has 31 catches for 281 yards and two touchdowns this season. He was present at all of Atlanta’s practices this week and was at a community event in the city that was held by the team.
Ridley briefly discussed the personal issue when he spoke with the media on Oct. 21 — the last time he talked with the media — but declined to get into detail about what he’s been dealing with.
“I mean, in today’s world, me personally, it shouldn’t matter, you should mind your business,” Ridley said about understanding why people would be interested in what’s going on. “But in today’s world, yeah, I do. To me, if I say it’s personal, that means it’s personal.”
Ridley said then he believed it would be a short-term issue, but wouldn’t say what he was dealing with other than it was personal.
With Ridley out, the Falcons will look to Russell Gage and Olamide Zaccheaus as receivers along with a continued large role for rookie tight end Kyle Pitts. Atlanta could run more two-back looks with Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson or two tight end looks with Pitts and Hayden Hurst.
