NEW ORLEANS -- Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 20-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday:
Bijan Robinson, running back
On the slow start: “Those slow starts, don’t help. In the NFL, it’s definitely harder to come back from those slow starts. In practice, we harp on going fast, speeding up and getting the ball down field as fast as we can whether if it’s passing or running. It doesn’t matter what it is. That’s the main thing that we try to focus on.”
Younghoe Koo, kicker
On the loss: “That’s not the standard that I have for myself. This game is fully on me, I’ll take that. Yeah, I think we were playing well enough to win the football game. I let the team down and I don’t take this lightly. One of the lowest points as a kicker. I’m going to bury myself in it for the next couple of days and make the most out of it.”
On the last miss that hit the goal post: “I made a couple of adjustments after the first miss. I felt pretty good about it, when it first came off my foot. That was kind of the reaction because coming off the foot it felt good. Sometimes, it just doesn’t go that way.”
On beating the Saints earlier with a 58-yard field goal: “Yeah, but try not to ride that because it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done in the past. The next best kick has to be the next one. I’ve got to move on.”
On what the teammates said to him: “Super supportive. I can’t ask for anything more than that. I definitely appreciate that, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to do better and I will do better.”
On the first miss of 53 yards from the left hash: “It felt OK. I didn’t hit it good enough. I’ve got to play the line better, stick to my process and hit a better ball.”
On the blocked 35-yarder: “I think they did – I’ve got to watch the film – but they did a pull and shoot. I’ve got to hit the ball better. If I hit a better ball, I don’t think would have been an issue. I have go back, look and see exactly what happened. But I have got to hit a better ball as well.”
On the missed 46-yarder from the left hash: “Overall, I know the foundation of my kicking, I know what I have to get back, too. I thought I did that and I felt pretty confident. So, that’s what the reaction is what it was. I thought it was good and it just kept leaking on by. Just have got to learn from it.”
On making in-game adjustments: “Sometimes when I make a kick, it doesn’t mean that I hit a good ball. Sometimes, your misses go in. That’s kind of the name of the game. I’m always going back to the process whether if I make the kick or miss the kick…I try to not rely on feel or whatever. Make or miss, I always go back and see what I can work on.”
On if he had to make another adjustment if he got another chance at the end: “At the time, I felt good. Believe it of now, performance might not say it. But if we’d got another chance, I had all of the confidence in the world that I was going to make that kick. I was getting ready for that kick. That’s all I could do. My job was to go out there and make the next one.”
A.J. Terrell, cornerback
On the loss: “We just started slow. It’s something that we (said) all week, they had a new coach, new coaching switch. We just have got to start fast. We gave up a lot of stuff early, running the ball, passing the ball. We kind of locked in a little too late coming in the second half.”
On Marquez Valdes-Scantling: “He’s an NFL receiver. You can’t sleep on nobody. He had a decent, good first half. We had to make an adjustment.”
On the adjustment (Coach Morris told Fox sideline reporter Pam Oliver that Terrell would take MVS in the second half: “That was the second half adjustment we had, for me to start following him. That was the adjustment.”
On the state of the team: “You can’t take nobody for granted. Especially when they have a coaching switch like that. Typically, teams like to come out and they actually get more energy when they get a new coach, and we mentioned that all week. We knew they were going to come out hot and try to throw everything at us….We started out slow. We have to not beat ourselves early and get on task, quick.”
On what Morris said to the team in the locker room: “He was super positive. Next game. We left stuff out there that we wish we had back. In the first half. We got into our rhythm in the second half but it was little too late.”
On if they spoke to Younghoe Koo: “Oh yeah, we love Younghoe. It’s a tough job that he has. Any time points are missed or when we give up points, it’s always critical and crucial. We know who Koo is. We know he’s the leading specialist on the team and we all love and appreciate everything he (does) week-in and week-out.”
Justin Simmons, safety
On how tough the loss was for the team: “We knew they were going to come out swinging. Anytime, especially when your head coach gets fired, a team’s response is normally the highest it’s been. They were playing at home. We knew what type of game it was going to be. I think we didn’t help ourselves defensively. We started really flat in the first half of the game. We settled in and were able to make some plays and get off the field. Hindsight, looking at it, and I haven’t looked at the tape, just reflecting back on it, we didn’t nearly well enough to win that game in the first half. We didn’t get any takeaways either.”
On what happened on the 40-yard TD pass: “We’ve to got have better communication. That starts with myself and we’ve got to make sure that we get ourselves into the right check. Into the right play. So that we can make the play and are not reacting. They got on the ball fast. We were trying to direct traffic there. We’ve got to do…I’ve got to do a better job of making sure that I get a good sense of the right call. Ultimately, when the ball is in the air, go make the play.”
Grady Jarrett, defensive tackle
On the loss: “We late this opportunity slip today. We should have. We just have to get back to the drawing board. We have to get back on the W chain.”
On how the team will respond: “We lost, but we are not defeated. There are a lot of games left. Our best football is ahead of us and that’s the best part about.”
On what they have to say to Younghoe Koo: “Go back to work. …go back to work. We’ll learn from the shortcomings. At the end of the day, there are many, many plays where things went wrong in that game. It’s more than just on him.”
On hold the Saints to three points in the second half: “Just making adjustments. Picking up the intensity and the energy of the game. I felt like we did and responded pretty well. I feel like we have to do that in the beginning.”
About the Author
