Calvin Ridley spoke his truth in his introductory press conference with the Tennessee Titans. About his play. About his off-field struggles. About his complicated relationship with the Jacksonville Jaguars. And about why he'll be wearing two-tone blue for the foreseeable future.

Ridley, the 29-year-old receiver coming off his second career 1,000-yard season, officially signed with the Titans Friday. The ups and downs of Ridley's career have been well-documented. He broke out as a second-team All Pro in 2020 with 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns. Then, in 2021-22, he missed 29 games, first for personal, mental-health-related reasons then while serving a season-long suspension for violating the league's gambling policy. Mid-suspension, the Falcons traded Ridley to Jacksonville, where — upon returning in 2023 — Ridley amassed 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns despite having missed nearly two full seasons.

Now that he's signed with the Titans, Ridley unpacked the winding journey that brought him to Nashville, even if he thought as recently as this week he'd be sticking around in Jacksonville.

Here are the major takeaways from Ridley's introductory press conference.

Calvin Ridley wanted to stay in Jacksonville, but things were 'uncomfortable'

Ridley gave a long answer when asked why he chose to sign with the Titans. But this section stood out.

"I looked into it and I really wanted to, honestly, be with the Jags," Ridley said. "But there were a lot of things that weren’t working out for me, and I think the Titans had that other side for me. So I chose the Titans."

So what didn't work out? Ridley chose not to go too far into detail but tried to give an honest answer of why he thinks negotiations with Jacksonville didn't work out.

"It was just a little uncomfortable at times," Ridley says. "(The Titans) showed me they want me here for a while. They told me already they’re going to treat me like a grown man. ... I just feel like I’m going to be able to be a grown man here."

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Calvin Ridley explains his suspension, personal growth

Ridley accepts the consequences for his wrongdoings. But, in retrospect, he wishes someone at the NFL had sat down to talk with him about what happened before receiving his blanket suspension.

"Honestly, coming from me, I didn’t think I did that much," Ridley said. "If you would’ve sat down and talked to me and we had a nice conversation with the NFL or whoever I needed to talk to, I think y’all would’ve realized alright, he’s not gambling. Well, he was gambling. But he didn’t do it the way they think he did. He was just going through some things. If you had a heart and you would’ve chopped it up with me, you would’ve been like ‘Alright, we’re going to give you six months. How about that?’ "

It was tough for Ridley to watch football during his time away from the game. He says he learned about people and business during the suspension, but mostly he took solace in his family.

He admits he felt a little rusty coming back in 2023. He'd stayed in shape, but still had to deal with some of the tightness associated with missing so much time.

"I’m going to think I’m a failure when I did pretty decent with two years off," Ridley said. "I did pretty decent. I’ll leave it as that. And from now on I think I’m only going up because my work ethic is really good. I’m going to put the work in in order to be good. I think I’m only going up from here. Two years off, I got my one year behind me. Now I’m ready to take off."

Are the Tennessee Titans getting Calvin Ridley's full effort? He says yes.

Ridley addressed speculation that now that he's being compensated as one of the NFL's 10 highest-paid receivers, he'll pack things up and give less than 100% of his effort. Ridley says he's offended as a guy who used to ride multiple city buses both directions to get to and from football practice growing up, a guy who says work ethic is all he knows.

"I got 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns and had two seasons off," Ridley said. "I’m a hard-worker. I play football. It doesn’t hit me how it’s hitting y’all. I earned this. This is all I know. It’s just not hitting me like that. They would (say that about) anybody. They would do it to you. I can’t worry about it. If I do, I’m going the wrong way. I’m only going this way. My family’s over there. I’m excited. They got me here. I’m ready. Man, I play football."

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Ridley said he proved in Jacksonville that he could go a full season without missing a practice, a game or a meeting. And his next order of business is learning how to do that with the Titans.

"I’m the type of player who you want in the building, someone who’s going to work for your organization," Ridley said.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Titans receiver Calvin Ridley air about suspension, life with Jaguars