Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say to the media after the 38-25 loss Sunday to Seattle:
On the opening kickoff plan: “We had initial discussions as a team about what we wanted to do in terms of making our voices heard heading in to the first game. Russ [Russell Wilson] reached out to me I guess about a week and a half before the game and we got in touch the weekend before the game just to get a temperature for what each team was feeling and to kind of let everybody’s voices be heard. I guess both teams came to the collaboration of taking a knee after the first kickoff. I felt good about that. We were excited to try and voice our want for change and to make a difference. It was a good collaboration and I appreciate the candor and discussions that we had back and forth with the Seahawks. I think their team is doing a great job in their community as well. I think we are trying to do a great job with our team.”
On getting the ball to Todd Gurley: “I thought Todd [Gurley] did a great job. We had some really positive runs in the first half and our offensive line did a nice job. We just got stalled out a little bit. We went for it three times on fourth down. That changes the scope of the ball game and we’ve got to find a way to convert in those situations.” | Gurley had a quiet second half
On the Seahawks' defense and Jamal Adams in the first half: “I thought in the first and second half, we did a nice job of creating some explosives to Julio [Jones] and Calvin [Ridley]. He’s [Jamal Adams] a great player. There’s no doubt about it. They were using him in different ways and some different packages than they’ve done in the past. I thought we adjusted to it at half time and did a nice job in the second half, but it just was not enough. We’ve got to be better in those critical downs to keep drives going and come away with points.” | Two plays turned Falcons tide against Seahawks
On focusing on the small details heading into Dallas: “I think the biggest jump typically happens in football from Week 1 to Week 2. I think that the only way that happens though is the serious attention to detail that it takes and the hard work that it is going to take for us getting back and focused tomorrow. If we can clean up some of those things from the first time out there and be a little bit better, I think there are positives to take away from today. It’s a long season. There’s no question about that. I’ve been playing for a long time and know that the teams that I’ve been on that have been good are the ones that improve as the year goes on and it’s going to be important for us to improve from Week 1 to Week 2.”
On whether there has been an improvement on offense from a year ago: “We’re a different offense than we were a year ago. I think every year to me is different. We are not as good as we are going to be, right now. It’s going to be our challenge to see what we can become as we move forward. I thought we did some good things and we did some poor things. We’ve got to do more of the good things as we move forward, and I think we’re capable of that.”
