Falcons want to see more improvement in rookie Desmond Ridder’s third start

Ridder has targeted London 20 times on 59 pass attempts. London has caught 14 passes for 166 yards over Ridder’s two starts, at the Saints and at the Ravens.

“Honestly, I just think it’s him getting the feel for the game from being in there in a real game,” London said. “He had one under his belt before his last game, and now he has two. He’s just getting more comfortable.”

Because tight end Kyle Pitts is on injured reserve, Ridder will not get any in-game work with him this season.

“As he gets more comfortable, I think all of the receivers and me are going to get comfortable (with Ridder),” London said.

Starting on the road in tough environments was a big part of the first two games of Ridder’s quarterback tryout.

“We’ve taken two losses in the past two weeks that I’ve started,” Ridder said. “They’re all learning experiences for myself especially, but I don’t think it matters who we play or where we play or when we play. No matter good or bad, you’re going to have a learning experience.”

Ridder believes he made progress from the first start to the second.

“Especially for myself and throughout the team, I think we’re growing each and every week,” Ridder said. “We wanted to get up and over these humps. Find our way on an uphill climb.”

Ridder has not thrown a touchdown pass in his first two outings. The Falcons are coming off a three field-goal outing against the Ravens on Saturday.

Ridder was the second quarterback selected in the 2022 draft. He was taken 74th overall, in the third round. Pittsburgh took Kenny Pickett in the first round, 20th overall.

“We’ll see how we are in a couple of weeks when we have a whole year with him,” Smith said. “We’ve been pleased up to this point. Make sure we finish it. There are a lot of things you have to discuss throughout the offseason.”

The Falcons currently hold the sixth position in the draft, which may be too far back to draft Alabama’s Bryce Young, but they may have a shot at Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud or Kentucky’s Will Levis.

“You’ve got a lot of things as you decompress the season and you go through meetings, strategy going into free agency, which we haven’t had here in two years,” Smith said. “Obviously, where we are in the draft. We’ve got a lot of picks. Lot of things that you can move around as we get into that.”

The Falcons will have nearly $70 million under the projected $232 million salary cap. They’ll likely sign a veteran quarterback to help mentor Ridder if he continues to ascend.

“We’re excited about the offseason and a lot of the things we’ve built here,” Smith said. “We just want to finish this the right way. That’s a huge question.”

The Falcons generally have been pleased with Ridder’s performances.

“Desmond has done a lot of good things,” Smith said. “He’s out there, and we’re excited to see what kind of step he takes from his second start to his third one as well.”

In his first outing, Ridder completed 13 of 26 passes (50%) for 97 yards, no touchdowns nor an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 59.3 but had two throws that nearly were intercepted.

In his second outing, Ridder took better care of the ball against the Ravens in frigid conditions. He completed 22 of 33 passes (66.6%) for 218 yards, no touchdowns nor an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 85.2.

“I thought he did a nice job; we were in more of a drop-back game, which was good to see from him,” Smith said. “I thought he delivered, especially as the game went on. He made some critical throws in critical situations. That’s what I saw, but again, we came up short, which was frustrating. I thought he made a lot of progress.”

Ridder will face the Cardinals’ defense, which gives up 354.8 yards per game and ranks 22nd overall. The Cardinals, who will play without injured safety Budda Baker, give up 240.5 yards passing per game, which ranks 26th in the league.

“Just another step,” Smith said when asked what he wants to see from Ridder on Sunday. “I thought he took a good step again. He got thrown into the fire – we go down to New Orleans, play a veteran defense, and I thought he handled some situations. We obviously had some more success through the air Saturday in Baltimore against another really good defense.”

The Ravens made a lot of pre-snap adjustments.

“I thought he handled that well for a young player,” Smith said. “I thought he got more comfortable in the pocket. I think we need another step here. I mean, ultimately, we need another step and a win, too. So, I think as long as he keeps making progress, that’s a good sign.”

The Falcons want to see Ridder get off to a better start. While he was settling down, they fell behind 14-0 to the Saints and the Ravens.

“We need to be cleaner in situational football, we need to obviously score more and win, so it’s another step in the evaluation,” Smith said. “How he handles those situations, third down, red zone, fourth down when you decide to go for it, pre-snap, got-to-have-it-situations, end of the half, end of the game, all of that stuff, it all goes into it.”

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Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule

Sept. 11 Saints 27, Falcons 26

Sept. 18 Rams 31, Falcons 27

Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23

Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20

Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15

Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14

Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17

Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT

Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17

Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15

Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24

Nov. 27 Commanders 19, Falcons 13

Dec. 4 Steelers 19, Falcons 16

BYE WEEK

Dec. 18 Saints 21, Falcons 18

Dec. 24 Ravens 17, Falcons 9

Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.

Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD