Patriots Ridley Hoping For a Repeat Performance
 Stevan Ridley has family coming to town this weekend, giving him plenty of reasons to want to go out and have a big performance. (USA TODAY Images) |
Last week's performance was a solid one for Stevan Ridley, who carried the football 25 times for 101 yards along with a touchdown during New England's win over the Vikings. Now he's hoping he can go out and do the same thing when the Oakland Raiders come to town on Sunday.
The veteran running back, who grew up as a fan of the Silver and Black as a child, has a family who apparently are also fans of the opposing team this weekend. Of course, that's all on hold for now as they'll get to see their son play against them when the two teams meet on Sunday.
According to the Boston Globe, Ridley's family will be in town to watch him hit the field against Oakland, adding some additional incentive for him to play well.
“It’s going to be awesome, man,” Ridley told the newspaper Wednesday. “Personally, my dad’s old favorite team was the Raiders, until of course I became a Patriot, so we’ve got about 14 people coming up this weekend. My mom’s very excited about it and family’s going to be here, and it’s going to be an exciting atmosphere to come back to Foxborough and get in the home stadium. We’re looking forward to it and the team’s excited about not being on the road and just coming back to New England and playing some Patriot football.”
Coming off of a season where he faced criticism with holding onto the football, the focus has been better ball security this year and for the most part he's off to a good start. The Vikings last weekend and also the Dolphins the week before were all over him on each hit, trying to rip the ball out and being physical with him each time they made contact.
That's likely something he can expect to deal with all season. However, so far he's done his job and the team even went to him in the fourth quarter when it came time to run out the clock. Ridley delivered, carrying 8 times for 47-yards (5.9 avg) down the stretch to help New England close out their first win of the season.
“It was good that they stuck with me late in the game, but really that’s the coaches’ call," Ridley told the newspaper. "However I get them, I just go out there and run hard, so over the course of the game, maybe get them to wear down, and that defense was tired. The offensive line was working on them, and that’s why we have all the big boys up front that we have, is to see if they can sustain our offensive line over four quarters. We felt good about how we were attacking them toward the end, and that’s how we kept moving the ball."
Now he'll try and do the same thing this weekend against a team that has already allowed 400 rushing yards through the first two games. With his family in town, he certainly has plenty of motivation to go out and have a good performance.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Ridley said via ESPN Boston. “Personally, my dad’s old favorite team was the Raiders, but I of course became a Patriot. ... Family is going to be here. It’s going to be an exciting atmosphere to come back to Foxborough and get in the home stadium.”
