INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 31-27 loss to the Rams on Sunday:
DRAKE LONDON, wide receiver
On his TD catch: “It was a quick stick route. I have faith in (Marcus) Mariota to put it in there and keep me safe and score a touchdown. That’s pretty much it.”
On the late surge: “That’s definitely us right there. That’s what we need to keep being, day in and day out.”
On the blocked punt: “Everything it just lit (the sidelines) up. It was the spark that we needed. It came late, but we needed it for sure.”
On how they kept fighting: “Every day that is what coach Arthur (Smith) preaches. We are going to keep fighting. We are going to keep going until we figure this thing out.”
On his first two games: “I wouldn’t say that it’s been easy at all. There is a lot of work that goes into it. A lot of detail. Persistence. But other than that, this team makes me feel comfortable out there. They gave me all the confidence in the world to go be myself out there. That’s why I appreciate this program and this ballclub.”
On his homecoming: “Obviously, that was fun. Getting my first touchdown in front of my family. In front of my home crowd. But at the end of the day, we lost. We are trying to win in this league. That’s all that matters, right? So, we have some stuff to clean up. We have a lot to do. We’re going to get to it.”
On how many family members attended: “I couldn’t tell you.”
CASEY HAYWARD, cornerback
On his pick: “I think it was my 25th or something like that.”
On his play: “Obviously, for myself, we want to win these games. We want to play well. I was playing well until I hurt my shoulder. Outside of that, we just have to try to find a way to win these games. Getting turnovers, if I can get some more turnovers, that definitely helps us winning these games. We had three turnovers on defense. That was a plus for us. It could have been tied in the turnover battle. We need to win these games. We have to find a way to flip those games, and it’s only Week 2. In Week 3, we can hopefully flip that and then win some of these close games.”
On his shoulder injury: “It’s a little banged up. I was able to (go) back in the game when I was feeling right. So, I’ll be fine. When you play this game long enough, you get a little beat up. But I try to play these games as long as you can, as much as you can. So, I’ll be good to go.”
On the blocked punt: “It was kind of crazy because we were already getting a stop on defense. We said, we get the stop, give the offense a chance to go back and score. We felt even if we didn’t get the block ... we needed the block. The block was huge. We needed it. We were giving our offense a chance to go down and score. Either way, the defense did their job. When you can score on special teams, that’s always a plus. I’m sure that (special teams coordinator) Marquice (Williams) is happy about that. You want to score on special teams, no matter if it’s a return or block or things like that. That was a good job.”
On his pick: “Was just running with the tight end. He (threw) the ball up. I spotted the ball, and I just went and attacked the ball.”
DARREN HALL, cornerback
On forcing the fumble: “I knew the ball was probably going to (Cooper Kupp) or (Allen Robinson) in that situation. It was a ‘we got to have it situation,’ and those are their guys. I ended up lining up on top of Kupp. I had some inside help, so I ended up using my help. He caught the ball, but the play is not over until the play is over. So, I got over there and punched the ball out. I was able to recover it and give the offense a chance to finish the game.”
On making a contribution: “They had me on the field, and we needed to make a play. It feels good to be able to make that play and help us have a chance at winning the game. … I was just going out there trying to make a play and help the team. It was a good feeling, especially being at home in front of my family.”
MYKAL WALKER, linebacker
On the comeback: “This team is never going to quit. We dug ourselves into a hole early. We fought back. We climbed and crawled back. This team is not going to quit, and I’m proud of those guys for that. I know each and every week, we’re going to go and put our best foot forward.”
On the zone defenses: “That’s football. It’s give and take. We were playing zone. Credit to them. They found it and exploited it. They just kept sitting in those zones. When we kept getting closer and closer at the end, we were able to play more matching. The calls were great. We just have to execute better.”
On his interception: “Me and Rashaan (Evans) had the back. The back went to Rashaan. Then I just zoned up and was reading Matthew Stafford’s eyes. He was looking that way. So I pushed over and luckily I was able to get my arm on the ball.”
On playing a lot of guys on defense: “I think it’s healthy. We rotate our guys back and forth throughout the long drives. Just getting everybody fresh and making sure that everybody is ready to do their job. The fresher you are, the better you (are). I think it’s a good situation that (we) are doing now.”
On how the team feels heading into Week 3: “We are sitting at 0-2, so we’re not going to feel the best, but at the end of the day, we know what we are capable of. We’ve shown flashes of what we can be. We are all excited. We know what we have to do. We just have to go out there and execute and get the job done.”
On Troy Andersen’s play: “He played great. I’m high on him. Troy is a guy who is with me every day. He’s freakishly athletic. We just have clean him up a little bit on the X’s and O’s on playing a linebacker, but the sky is the limit for that kid.”
For more content about the Atlanta Falcons
Follow me on Twitter @DorlandoAJC
On Facebook at Atlanta Falcons News Now
On Instagram at DorlandoLed
Atlanta Falcons coverage on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 NFL schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 at Seattle, 4:25 p.m.
Oct. 2 vs. Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Oct. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Oct. 16 vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.
Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
About the Author
