Ridley primed for breakout season

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Stevan Ridley was asked during New England's mini-camp whether he feels the 2012 season is "his time." With Patriots lead running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis gone to Cincinnati, there's a large share of snaps left on the table.

Ridley shook his head.

"Everybody wants to be "that guy", but nobody knows who that guy's going to be. The way we're going to approach it go out there and just try to be the best that we can be and we mean it. That's all Coach Belichick wants us to do, is play as a team. It's not our call who starts."

NFL.com writer Brian McIntyre doesn't make the call either, but he did share his opinion this past weekend. He believes it is Ridley's time.

Ridley played under 20 percent of the Patriots' offensive snaps last season, yet finished second on the team with 87 carries for 441 yards, adding one touchdown. Of Ridley's 87 carries, 51 came on first down, with those runs gaining 274 yards, a 5.4-yard clip that bested Green-Ellis' 3.7 yards per carry on first-down runs. At 5-foot-11 and 223 pounds, Ridley has a similar build to Green-Ellis and should be able to handle the physical pounding of a 200-plus carry season.

McIntyre named ball security as the lone skill that needs to be sharpened, which won't bother the back; Ridley said the same thing during camp.

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