New England Patriots Stevan Ridley confirms full health

It has been a few months since New England Patriots feature back Stevan Ridley suffered a concussion at the hands of former Baltimore Ravens strong safety Bernard Pollard in the AFC Championship game, but the hit that was inflicted upon Ridley was certainly a huge one. Whether or not some of that damage was self-inflicted by Ridley putting his head down is irrelevant at this point, because it was a scary injury to watch with Ridley lying motionless on the turf.

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Ridley has stated a couple of times that the hit was huge, and he also stated it was the biggest hit he has ever taken in his career. As we all know, Pollard can pack a mean punch and is one of the better in-the-box safeties in the league. We can only be thankful that Ridley emerged from that hit fine, and he also stated his thankfulness.

Here is what Ridley told the Boston Herald, “I thank the Lord that I’m healthy and brought me back. All I can do now is move forward from that, but it was a nice hit that I took. Just got to shake it off. Comes with the game. It wasn’t pretty at all. It was one of the worst ones that I took in my life. Besides that, it comes with the game. Sometimes it’s others, and sometimes it’s ourselves. But either way, I love the game, and I love football. I mean, it’s going to happen sometimes, but you’ve got to roll with it, adjust it. Make sure you’re squared away with your doctor, squared away with your team. I’ll be out here this year ready to go.”

Concussions can still have a negative effect on a player months after the injury, so it is great to hear that this isn’t the case with Stevan Ridley. He looks poised for another great season in his second season as a starter, but it will be interesting to see how many carries are plucked away from him this upcoming season. If LeGarrette Blount is inspired, he could be a factor for the Patriots rushing attack. However, less carries also means more efficiency for backs, so that could be a fringe benefit for Ridley. It will also be interesting to see how many carries former Ole Miss UDFA Brandon Bolden gets as a sophomore in the league.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.