Calvin Ridley gets injury news nobody wanted to hear, changing Cam Ward’s future down the stretch of Titans season

Ridley’s disappointing season is over.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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The Tennessee Titans lost to the Houston Texans on the final drive of their Week 11 rematch in Nashville, when Texans QB Davis Mills and company drove into field goal range as time dwindled. The final score was 16-13, but you have to flash all the way back to when the game was 0-0 at the beginning of the game to find the most tragic moment of the day.

Veteran WR Calvin Ridley made his return to the lineup in Week 11 for the first time since Week 6, when he left the game early against the Raiders with a hamstring injury. But on his first target of the game, he went down with a new injury that ended his season.

Calvin Ridley’s 2025 season is over

Calvin Ridley converted the Titans first 3rd down on their first drive of the game, and it was his only catch of the day. He was tackled awkwardly by a pair of Texans defenders and went down holding his lower leg, then carted off the sideline to the locker room with what was deemed an ankle injury. Ridley was initially ruled “questionable” to return and then downgraded to “out”. Then after the game, interim Head Coach Mike McCoy opened with an upsetting update:

“To start out with, just some unfortunate news. Calvin (Ridley) broken fibula, so he’ll be done for the year. Feel for him. He worked so hard to get back to where he was and obviously that happened.”

This marks the end of Ridley’s 2025 season after less than 6 full games played, and likely marks the end of his tenure as a Tennessee Titan. Here’s a clip of how he sustained the injury.

Ridley is technically under contract through 2027, but there’s a team out in his deal this spring after 2 years and $51 million, suffering a $16 million dead cap hit. He turns 31 this week, and his time left in the NFL feels like it’s dwindling. What was supposed to be a high-level WR1 signing to boost Will Levis and then Cam Ward as young ascending quarterbacks ended up being a largely failed signing. Some of that was in Ridley’s control, suffering from streakiness, drops, and failing to be on the same page as his quarterbacks early on. But the injuries this year have just been a brutal break that nobody can control.

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