NATCHEZ — An MRI Monday revealed former Trinity Saint standout Stevan Ridley tore his ACL and MCL.

This is the New England Patriots running back’s second ACL tear, as he tore it once before his sophomore season with the LSU Tigers in 2009.

Ridley’s injury occurred when he was tackled for a 2-yard loss by cornerback Stephon Gilmore and landed hard. He’s leading the Patriots in rushing for the third straight season and hasn’t had a fumble after losing two in 2012 and four last year.

Adams County Christian head coach David King wrote on Facebook that he talked with Ridley on the phone, whose spirits were down.

“I assure you all he will be up for the challenge,” wrote Ridley’s former high school coach. “I promised him I would let everyone back home know that he is so thankful for all of the texts and calls. He just can’t return them. He loves Natchez and promises to come back stronger than ever to proudly represent his beloved hometown.”

Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater said Ridley improved his game tremendously and was on track to have a great year.

“Stevan put a lot of work in this off season preparing himself, making himself better, improving his game, and he was doing a good job for us,” Slater said. “That’s another situation you just hate to see sometimes, the cruel effects of this game with the injuries. It’s definitely heartbreaking to see guys go down like that, but we have to do as good a job as we can of just trying to move on and continuing to play well.”

Without Ridley, New England will look to use Shane Vereen, Brandon Bolden or rookie James White, who has been active for just one game.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.