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It had been some time since Calvin Ridley lined up on an NFL field in a game that mattered — 686 days, to be exact.

It didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt.

In his first game back from a one-year suspension from the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver and former Alabama standout caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the first quarter vs. the Indianapolis Colts to give his team a 7-0 lead in its 2023 NFL season opener.

On a third-and-8, Lawrence was flushed from the pocket, rolled to his left and, after assessing his options, found an open Ridley in the back of the end zone.

It was Ridley’s first TD since Oct. 24, 2021, while playing for the Atlanta Falcons.

It wasn’t the only contribution Ridley made in his return to the field. At halftime, Ridley had a team-best seven catches for 92 yards, including a 29-yard reception. No other Jaguars player had more than two catches or 30 yards.

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Why was Calvin Ridley suspended by NFL?

A first-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, Ridley had a productive first three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, highlighted by a 2020 season in which he had 1,374 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

During the fourth quarter of the Falcons’ home loss to the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 31, 2021, Ridley announced he was stepping away from the team indefinitely to focus on his mental health. Five days later, the team placed him on the non-football injury list and he missed the rest of the season.

On March 7, 2022, the NFL announced a suspension of at least one year for Ridley due to betting on NFL games. The league said Ridley gambled on games during a five-day stretch in Nov. 2021 while he was on the non-football injury list. Ridley said on Twitter that he bet $1,500 total and that “I don’t have a gambling problem.”

The following year, on March 6, 2022, the NFL announced it had reinstated Ridley, who was traded to the Jaguars for a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick while he was suspended.

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Expectations for Calvin Ridley and Jaguars this season?

Ridley’s arrival in Jacksonville comes at an opportune time.

The Jaguars are coming off a run last season to the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs in what was their first postseason appearance in five years. With Lawrence, a former No. 1 overall pick who threw 25 touchdowns last season, at quarterback and Doug Pederson, who led the Philadelphia Eagles to the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl victory in 2018, in place as head coach, Jacksonville enters the 2023 season as the favorite to repeat as AFC South division champions.

Ridley is at least part of the reason for that optimism, with 3.342 yards and 28 touchdowns in his first four NFL seasons. If his play Sunday is any indication, he’ll be a major difference-maker for his new team.