BALTIMORE — Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed three field-goal attempts in a game for the first time in his NFL career.
He was wide left on field-goal attempts of 40, 45 and 49 yards in the 13-12 loss to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
“I have my feeling, but I have to look at the film to confirm,” Koo said when asked by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution why the missed kicks were going left. “But I was hitting the ball. Contact and everything was great. It was just that the line was a little off. Just have to get that dialed in before Week One.”
Koo was in relative good spirts, despite the rare off-game.
He missed the 49-yard field-goal attempt after he’d made a 44-yard field goal. Falcons long snapper Liam McCullough was called for a false start and he had to kick it over.
“It has to be better,” Koo said. “It’s the same thing if they call a timeout or something. Those situations pop up. Whatever it is, first time or second time. You just have to go out there with a brand new mindset and then make the kick.”
During the field-goal practice session last week, Koo was wearing a sleeve on his kicking leg. He made a 51-yarder that hit the cross bar.
“No,” Koo said was asked if he was injured. “It’s just the recovery process. It’s training camp. I don’t think anybody in the (NFL) is 100 percent when training camp starts. Just a process of taking care of the body.”
Why the sleeve? A hamstring issue?
“Nah, everything is good,” Koo said.
Koo missed two field-goal attempts in a game three times with the Falcons, but never three until Saturday. He missed two last season against Chicago on Dec. 31 and against Tampa Bay on Dec. 10. He also missed two against Miami on Sept. 17, 2017 when he was with the Chargers.
“Same thing, with the kickoffs, whether it’s preseason or not, it’s an opportunity to get out there and get better,” Koo said. “Try to put some stuff together and get into a rhythm. It’s got to be better. I’ve got to be better.”
Koo plans to maintain his same approach.
“Whether it’s good or bad, the process is the same for me,” Koo said. “Learn from it. Make of miss. Grow from it. Get better the next time.”
Koo didn’t point any fingers at McCullough on the holder.
“The operation was great,” Koo said. “I just have to go back to what I was doing steps-wise, angle-wise. I’ll look at film and evaluate that.”
Falcons coach Raheem Morris was not too worried about Koo.
“I doubt that Koo will make any excuses,” Morris said.
Going for two: Falcons coach Raheem Morris essentially said it was a no-brainer to go for the two-point conversion with 36 seconds to play after Jase McClellan scored on a 3-yard touchdown run.
“Go for the win,” Morris said. “I don’t think it was even a thought about it.”
McClellan was stuffed by Ravens outside linebacker Tavius Robinson.
“Got a good look at it,” Morris said. “Maybe he could have pulled it, but I’m not going to second-guess (quarterback John) Paddock. He had a good day. Went out there and executed.”
The Falcons elected not to use the onside kick rule.
“You can kick it at the end, but I didn’t think it was worth it at the end,” Morris said. “That would be the situation to do the onsides kick.”
Neuzil back in the lineup: Backup center Ryan Neuzil started after not playing in the exhibition opener against the Dolphins because of a calf injury.
“It felt good getting out there,” Neuzil said. “Got to knock a little rust off. It felt good getting out there and playing all day.”
The Falcons moved the ball much better against the Ravens.
“We were able to keep some momentum,” Neuzil said. “Get the pass game going. Keepers. Get the run game going. It all just worked really well.”
Neuzil backs up center Drew Dalman and enjoyed getting a lot of action.
“In practice you learn a lot, but getting in the games you get a good feel for things,” Neuzil said. “Just getting it to run smoothly. Get the operation down and first-off, just get the ball moving.”
FitzPatrick’s showing: Tight end John FitzPatrick also received a lot of action.
He caught three passes for 14 yards.
“It went all right,” FitzPatrick said of the game. “Some good, some bad.”
He enjoyed getting the start.
“It feels good to get reps with everybody,” FitzPatrick said. “Disappointed about the loss. A lot things. A lot of good things. A lot of bad things. Just have to get back to work. Tomorrow and the next day.”
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