Patriots' Ridley Appreciates Flood Of Support, Will Use As Fuel In Return
BOSTON (CBS) -- Patriots running back Stevan Ridley will be sidelined for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL and MCL two weeks ago.
But he isn't letting the injury dampen his spirits.
Ridley posted a very inspirational message to his Instagram account on Tuesday with a nice collage of photos, saying he won't let the injury get him down. Instead, all the love and well wishes he's received over the last two weeks have inspired him to fight even harder in his return to the field.
The post read:
"Understand a setback in any aspect of life is only a true test of faith. While doing the thing I love the most, at a pivotal point in my career, I've run across another situation where my faith is being tested. And by tested I mean the same God that brought me to this pivotal point, is making sure I still know why and where my blessings are coming from. So rather than sit around and try to understand this injury, I will use that time to reflect and appreciate the crazy amount of love that I have experienced in the past couple weeks. I will then take all this love and use it as fuel to get back to the plan God has for me. I truly love and thank my family, my friends, my teammates, my coaches, my fans, and all of Patriot Nation for all the love and support. #longliveKiDRiD"
Ridley, a free agent after the season, was off to a great start for New England before going down in Week 6, rushing for 340 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He had struggled with fumbling issues in the past, but it appeared those issues were gone in his fourth NFL season.
With Ridley on the shelf, Shane Vereen has taken over the bulk of the duties in the New England backfield. Vereen and Ridley were both drafted by the Patriots in 2011, and are very close with each other. Following one of his two touchdowns last Thursday against the New York Jets, Vereen did his own version of Ridley's "kick in the door" celebration in the end zone:
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