Calvin Ridley's return for the Titans ends abruptly with season-ending broken leg

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans will be without their No. 1 wide receiver and highest-paid player on the roster for the rest of the season.

Interim coach Mike McCoy said after a 16-13 loss to Houston that Calvin Ridley broke his right leg in his first game back from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the last three games.

“Feel for him,” McCoy said of Ridley. "He worked so hard to get back to where he was and obviously that happened.

Ridley came in second with 290 yards receiving for the Titans still looking for his first touchdown catch of the season. He led Tennessee with 1,017 yards receiving in 2024, his first with the Titans on a four-year deal worth up to $92 million.

He caught a 13-yard pass from Cam Ward on the Titans ' first offensive play before being tackled by Azeez Al-Shaair and Calen Bullock. Trainers came out to look at Ridley's ankle, he shook his head and lay back down on the ground before walking gingerly to the sideline.

Once he got to the sideline, Ridley sat for a couple minutes on the table used in the medical tent. Then he got on a cart for a ride to the locker room.

“For him to go down like that on a good day that I know he’s going to have, it’s just a bad feel for the offense because we lose a dynamic playmaker," Ward said. "Even if he doesn’t get the ball ... it’s Calvin Ridley. You’ve got to respect him.”

This was Ridley’s first game since the Titans’ Oct. 12 loss at Las Vegas. Ridley was limited to six offensive snaps in that game before hurting a hamstring, keeping him out of the last three games. The hamstring injury came just after Ridley had his best game this season against Arizona with five catches for 131 yards.

Ridley wasn't the only player injured in Tennessee's receiving corps Sunday.

Rookie Chimere Dike, who came in leading the NFL in all-purpose yards with his work as a punt and kick returner, didn't return after muffing a punt late in the first half. Fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor also has a hamstring issue.

McCoy said Dike cleared concussion protocol, but is still being evaluated for a bruised chest.

That left the Titans with veteran Van Jefferson and Mason Kinsey, who went undrafted out of Berry College in 2020 and started on New England's practice squad. Kinsey, who has been with the Titans since 2021, caught one pass for 14 yards. Ward took blame for missing a wide-open Kinsey in the third near the end zone.

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