When wide receiver Calvin Ridley joined the Atlanta Falcons from Alabama in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, he came under the tutelage of quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones, another former Crimson Tide standout.

“Being with Matt Ryan, me and him throwing a crazy amount and watching a lot of film,” Ridley said, “and just seeing how we’re going to break a defense down through the week. And obviously Julio. I was under Julio, too, so I learned a lot from them.”

After signing with Tennessee as a free agent this week, Ridley sees his role as reversed, with Titans quarterback Will Levis owning nine games of NFL experience.

“I know he has a lot of arm strength,” Ridley said of Levis. “But he’s young, and I’m a vet. I feel like when you’re in that role, it’ll be a little bit more easier for me to talk to him and communicate with him. …

“I think that’s a really good advantage for us. He has someone that’s a vet and he’s younger, so I think he’ll listen to me, and I will get us in some good positions. I will really get us in some good positions.”

The Titans won the free-agent sweepstakes for Ridley with a contract reported at $92 million for four years as Tennessee seeks to regain a foothold in the AFC South.

The Titans won the division in 2020 and 2021 after going to the playoffs as a wild card in 2019. But Tennessee has lost 12 of its past 18 games, which led to a coaching change in January, with Mike Vrabel out after six seasons and Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan brought aboard to get the Titans back in the game with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans, the past two AFC South winners.

“I believe in everyone on my team,” Ridley said on Friday. “That’s when I came from Alabama. I look around, I don’t care who the other team has, we’re going to work to be good, and we’re going to kick their ass. I don’t really care who they have. I believe in my teammates and the work that we’re going to put in.

“But like you said, this division is getting really good, for real. They got some good players on these teams. But we got some good players, too.”

Ridley played for Jacksonville last season, and he said his preference would have been to stay with the Jaguars for 2024. But Ridley said he ended up feeling more comfortable about Tennessee and the contract was a factor, too.

“When I was going through the process of trying to evaluate the teams that I could possibly be with,” Ridley said, “I know that I have a certain type of skills, so I’m not afraid to go with the good or who’s trying to be good. Playing them twice a year, I was watching them and looking at the things they did have. I know that (wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins) is here, and I know that I want to play with another receiver on the other side that can help me do what I do best, so I knew that they had that. And I knew that they had a really good defense and were upcoming and stuff.

“So I was looking into it, and I really wanted to, honestly, be with the Jags. But there was a lot of things that wasn’t working out for me, and I think the Titans had that other side for me, so I chose the Titans. Obviously, the money was pretty good. I went with that, and, yeah, I’m here.”

Ridley had 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns for Jacksonville in 2023. For a player who had 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns in his previous full season, Ridley didn’t think highly of his 2023 performance, except the circumstances under which it was produced.

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Ridley had played only five games in 2021 when he left the Falcons to focus on his “mental wellbeing.” As Ridley spent the rest of the season away from the team, the NFL charged, he bet on league games. For that, the NFL suspended him indefinitely on March 7, 2022, which turned out to be for the 2022 season after he was reinstated on March 6, 2023.

Between Ridley’s suspension and reinstatement, Atlanta traded the receiver to the Jaguars.

“It wasn’t the best season for me personally,” Ridley said. “I’m not proud of that at all. I wish I could just throw it away. But that’s what I gave them. That’s what I had. Two seasons out, I gave 1,000 and eight touchdowns. I didn’t miss a practice. I didn’t miss a game. I didn’t come late to nothing. I respected everybody in the building. I look at it as a win for me personally when I have to think about it like that, because if I don’t, I’m going to think I’m a failure when I did pretty decent. With two years off, I did pretty decent.

“So I look at 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. Two years off, I got my one year behind me, now I’m ready to take off.”

Ridley forsees his best seasons ahead of him even though he will turn 30 years old late in the 2024 campaign.

“Let me tell you, I’m 29 on paper,” Ridley said. “But I’m probably like 25 for real, to be honest with you. And it’s not because of the two years off. The two years off did help, but I’m really like 25 years old in real life. I can run with the – y’all going to see – I can run with the youngest, I can run with the oldest. I could run all day. I could play all day. I love football, man. It’s all I ever did, pretty much. This is what I do.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.