Report: Ridley May Not See Action vs. HOU [Edit: Officially Inactive]

[Brady6]

Ridley is officially inactive. Hopefully, this is a motivation tool over giving up on him.

If I had to guess it likely has more to do with him working with Faulk and Belichick thinking rather than put him out there prematurely and have him fumble resulting in his confidence worsening, Belichick thought sit him down give him a chance to get his head straight and work with Faulk and then give it a go when he is ready.

 

[Rob0729]

Yup, it can be fixed. Although this Faulk example is different IMO. This team wants Ridley to be a 300 carry workhorse. Faulk was relegated to a 3rd down RB role where he only reached 100 carries a season once after the fumbling problem.

I'm not sure Faulk ever completely fixed his fumbling. Kevin Faulk, RB at NFL.com

He still fumbled in limited touches and would of had plenty of fumbles on a Ridley type workload, no? 3 fumbles in 2005 and 2 fumbles in 2006 on less than 100 touches each season.

Many featured RBs have had huge fumbling problems early in their career and fixed the a lot of the problems or completely cured it. You can look at guys like Matt Forte, Tony Dorsett (although fumbling was an issue throughout his career, he improved exponentially after his first few years), Eric ****erson, and Frank Gore. All these guys corrected much of their huge fumbling issues that plagued them early in their career.

 

[IcyPatriot]

He's still fumbling less often than Kevin Faulk did in his first three seasons.

Faulk had 7 his first 3 years ... Ridley is up to 9.

Here's some faulk hate from 2006:
http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/10/39227-faulk-should-traded.html

 

[DefenseRules]

Faulk had 7 his first 3 years ... Ridley is up to 9.

Here's some faulk hate from 2006:
http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/10/39227-faulk-should-traded.html

Yeah I remember that. We fans were on him pretty good about the fumbling.
But I would l love to see a Kevin Faulk out there today.

 

[1960Pats]

I agree with you Rob, that Ridley is a top back. But only if he gets his fumble issue under control. He has great burst and hits holes far quicker than anyone else we have on the team. But, he's fumbled 3 games in a row, the last of which as we saw against Denver, was pretty team deflating. His fumble against Denver was based in large part because he was running out of control and with the ball away from his body. This after fumbling the two prior games. His fumble against Caroline in the redzone was another costly fumble. At this point he has to sit. He needs to work on this issue and if he's put in today and coughs it up again, it will do a lot of damage to an already fragile frame of mind regarding this issue. The players cannot start to doubt him and if he were to fumble 4 games in a row, it would be far worse for the team on a variety of levels, than just the fumble against the Texans. Just sit him for a couple of games and get him working with Faulk or whomever. His issues can be fixed but it does concern me that after fumbling against both Pitt and Carolina, that he was still so sloppy with the ball with his spinorama move that ended up as a fumble and TD against. I love the kid and think he has all the talent in the world. Now lets see how mentally tough he is and whether he's willing to listen and learn. I hear he's a healthy scratch today. This is a good team move. For him and the team.

The players understand this thinking and probably support BB's decision.

 

[patchick]

How is a slow RB with no receiving skills a special skill set?

Are speed and receiving skills really the skills that you think define a "special" RB? (And if so, why isn't Danny Woodhead at the top of your list of the league's best running backs?)

Ridley is special because of his elite balance and body control. He is one of the toughest runners to bring down in the NFL.

 

[Franchise12]

I absolutely hate this move.

 

[PP2]

Are speed and receiving skills really the skills that you think define a "special" RB? (And if so, why isn't Danny Woodhead at the top of your list of the league's best running backs?)

Ridley is special because of his elite balance and body control. He is one of the toughest runners to bring down in the NFL.

Not that I have a bone to pick with you, individually, but what empirical evidence leads you to this conclusion?

 

[Kdo5]

I completely disagree with deactivating Ridley. So when Bolden gets stuffed time and time again there is not even the option to go to our best runner? Wise.

 

[1960Pats]

I completely disagree with deactivating Ridley. So when Bolden gets stuffed time and time again there is not even the option to go to our best runner? Wise.

I completely agree with the move. So when Ridley is in there and fumbles in the red zone again he'll be useless the rest of the way? Wiser to sit his butt down.

 

[Kdo5]

I completely agree with the move. So when Ridley is in there and fumbles in the red zone again he'll be useless the rest of the way? Wiser to sit his butt down.

I'm sure most people agree with it but Ridley has every ability to kickstart the running game and subsequently the offense as a whole.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Don't like this move at all. Not a bit.

Agreed.

To not give him at least a couple of handoffs to build confidence??? With due deference to the best coach in the whole friggin league, I wish he wouldn't have made this one.
IMHO you could see the difference in today's run game without Ridley.

 

[Kdo5]

Agreed.

To not give him at least a couple of handoffs to build confidence??? With due deference to the best coach in the whole friggin league, I wish he wouldn't have made this one.
IMHO you could see the difference in today's run game without Ridley.

Same, although for some reason I am hearing about the RBs having a really good game. No one was particularly good on the ground. Blount was sufficient thanks to a great passing game today. I like Blount but you are right, there was a noticeable difference. He needs to get it together but I was somewhat appalled that theres a significant movement to cut Ridley or sit him for the season.

I remember vividly how everyone was crying for Ridley up until he finally did play in the Jets game.

 

[shmessy]

Faulk had 7 his first 3 years ... Ridley is up to 9.

C'mon, on 2 or 3 times more carries.

 

[moosekill]

He isn't a freaking 13 year old kid, he is a grown ass man, who is either too stupid or too lazy to understand that gaining that last 1/2 yard is not worth fumbling the ball, game after game. He is almost in tears because he understands that if he can't stop fumbling the ball, he will be out of the league working at Home Depot for $9 an hour. How many damn chances do you want to give him, how many games does he have to lose for us before we say, boy he is a little better than Blount, who gives a crap if he fumbles every game and loses it for us.

 

[moosekill]

Bill is doing everything possible to help the kid succeed, it is up to him at this point. I imagine he will be back next week, or the week after, and if he fumbles in that game, my guess is he is done for the season.

 

[shmessy]

He isn't a freaking 13 year old kid, he is a grown ass man, who is either too stupid or too lazy to understand that gaining that last 1/2 yard is not worth fumbling the ball, game after game. He is almost in tears because he understands that if he can't stop fumbling the ball, he will be out of the league working at Home Depot for $9 an hour. How many damn chances do you want to give him, how many games does he have to lose for us before we say, boy he is a little better than Blount, who gives a crap if he fumbles every game and loses it for us.

Why would you say something like that about a Patriot Great like Kevin Faulk?

Show a little respect!

 

[wolverinejoe80]

you would think BB would let him build his confidence back up against a 2-8 team.

didn't like this move at all. i don't trust ridley, but we need him.

 

[moosekill]

you would think BB would let him build his confidence back up against a 2-8 team.

didn't like this move at all. i don't trust ridley, but we need him.

a 2-8 team with the top rated d in the league.

 

[moosekill]

Why would you say something like that about a Patriot Great like Kevin Faulk?

Show a little respect!

Wow great one Shmessy