Here’s what Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder had to say after the 13-13 tie with the Bengals on Friday:
On whether he’s excited about having versatile talent around him and what he can do with it: “Yeah, I’m very thrilled. That’s why Mr. (Arthur) Blank and Mr. Terry (Fontenot) and Coach Art (Arthur Smith), that’s why they bring these guys in. It’s about playmakers around me, just be able to let them go play and get the ball in their hands. It was great as far as being able to go out there. I took what the defense gave me. One easy one to Mack (Hollins), to Kyle (Pitts), whatever it may be, one on one to Drake (London). Whatever they’re going to give me, I’m going to take. It was great to see everyone go out there. We have some things to clean up pre-snap wise and post-snap, but it was great to see.”
On whether he likes to see the offense moving the ball efficiently: “Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t say that first drive was efficient at all, especially when you’re going up 10, back 5, up 10, back 5. That’s probably not the quickest way to the end zone. For us, it’s just about cleaning that up. Just about coming in next week more locked in than we were, being able to clean it up and get better.”
On his thoughts about running back Bijan Robinson’s performance: “Bijan, he showed up a couple times, handed it to him. We got that one right there. That probably would have been a touchdown before they called a challenge on it. He was back there, he said he felt comfortable. He’s out there doing what he does. Just get the ball in his hands and let him go.”
On what he saw on the pick: “In this game, it’s all about controlling what you can control. There I thought it was man coverage. That was the route we wanted to work, a little whip route on it. Once I let the ball go, it was out of my hands. The ref didn’t make the call, that’s something we’ve got to live with. Like I said, the penalties in that drive, we probably shouldn’t have got to that situation. Probably already should have had the points on the board, sitting on the bench. For us, there’s a lot of things we can go back and clean up on that first drive where that result doesn’t happen.”
On what he attributes to the penalties that the team received: “I mean, honestly, we just got to lock in. There’s nothing else to it. Whether it’s communication, whether it’s pre-snap, whether it’s cadence, on me, on the O-line, wide receiver, doesn’t matter. All 11 guys have to be locked in when we go out there to play. That’s something we got to do better.”
On how it felt from an individual perspective to be on the field since January: “It felt great. All smiles on my face just to be able to go out there and play the game I love to play; play with the guys I love to play it with. It’s great not to be able to go out there and beat your defense, beat up someone else’s. It was fun for not only myself but everybody to go out there and play.”
On whether he feels a sense of improvement since January: “Oh, yeah, 100%. But physically and mentally, just being locked in on the game plan, being comfortable with that, being ready to go. When you get out there on the field, it makes things a lot easier, for me, it’s just about going in next week. Now this game plan is wiped, get a whole new one tomorrow and be ready to go.”
On how he feels quarterback Taylor Heinicke played and how much of an asset he’s been: “Taylor’s been a great guy for me. Both Taylor and Logan (Woodside). Both guys have been able to come in – Logan the last four games and Taylor this offseason. We’ve been nothing but great to each other, bouncing off ideas to each other, being able to work off each other. When you talk about competition, obviously, there’s only one person that can play this position on the field at one time. So we know that in this job, in this profession, every job is a competition. But what we like to call it is a healthy competition. No one’s rooting each other down or rooting each other up, whatever it may be, but rather building everyone up together just because like we say, ‘Iron sharpens iron.’ It’s going to make all three of us better.”
On whether he feels like he’s more dangerous once he gets into open space: “Yeah, I feel like whether it’s me or anyone else that has the ball in their hands, if you get outside the pocket, it puts pressure on the defense. It makes the defense have to either think pass or run from the quarterback position. They might come up on me and think it’s run, think I’m running, then dump it off to receiver, or they think I’m passing and drop all the way back and I take off running. That’s something that has been God-given to me, to be able to get out and use my legs. That’s something that obviously I’ve always worked on. Now, it’s just about keeping your eyes up downfield, seeing what play there is to be made.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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