New Lions running back Stevan Ridley wasn’t sure Detroit was anywhere he wanted to be.
But after taking a visit there, and seeing some familiar faces from his days with the Patriots, he came to the realization that maybe it could be the kind of destination free agents seek out.
“Initially, when I got the call from the Lions I didn’t know if it was really somewhere that I really wanted to be,” Ridley told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “But once I got there and I met coach and I met the staff and some of the guys that had rolled over from New England and they’re there now, I mean I honestly felt so good. It was almost like I had a peace about the place once I left there.”
New G.M. Bob Quinn has been selling that idea, and bringing some Patriots-style attitude with him into the new job. But it’s going to take time and guys like Ridley coming there to make it work.
And Ridley’s not just there to create culture, but to add something to the running game. He said he’s finally well enough to contribute, after knee problems limited him in his year with the Jets. He blew out his knee in 2014, missing the second half of his final Patriots season, and then spent half of last year on the PUP list and never made much of an impact once he was activated, stuck behind Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell.
“I really believe that my best years are ahead of me over these next two or three or four years, whatever that may be,” Ridley said. “So I’m really excited about an opportunity just to come in here and do what I did in New England for four years, and that was to hold down the early downs and to get the short-yardage carries or get the goal line carries, just to do whatever this team needs me to do.
“And that’s what me and coach [Jim] Caldwell talked about on my visit, just to come here and just to play my role and do my job. I’m not going to sit here and set expectations or anything like that, but I will say I’m coming in here to work, I’m coming in here and I’m hungry and I’m coming in here hungry about playing for the Detroit Lions.”
Having a player like Ridley being willing to say such things might be as valuable as any yards he gains, as Quinn tries to turn a downtrodden franchise into something else.