Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is participating in the team’s voluntary offseason program and is getting to know his new signal-caller, head coach Arthur Smith.
“It’s been going well,” Ryan said on Tuesday. “I think obviously, transition requires a lot of effort and a lot of work to learn the new system to make sure that you’re as comfortable as you can possibly be with the terminology.”
Smith is Ryan’s third head coach. Smith is his first head coach from the offensive side of the ball and he’s set to call the plays.
“There are always nuances in different schemes and how coaches like certain things,” Ryan said. “I’ve been working really hard to try to get on the same page with them. I’ve been excited that we are able to start and get out on the field this week.”
The coaches can work with the players during phase two of the offseason program.
“Just start to get guys lined up and moving around and making steps in the right direction,” Ryan said. “(Offensive coordinator) Dave (Raggone) and Arthur have been great. I’m excited about the future and hopefully winning a bunch of games.”
The Falcons have gone 18-30 over the past three seasons and have missed the playoffs.
Ryan didn’t know Smith before he was hired to coach the Falcons.
“Just from a distance,” Ryan said. “Having watched what they did in Tennessee. I have a bunch of coaches that I’ve played for (that) have worked with him and all of them speak really highly about who he is as person. Who he is as a football coach.”
Ryan’s first coordinator, Mike Mularkey, worked closely with Smith in Tennessee as the tight-ends coach and then the head coach.
“He comes highly recommended from a lot of people that I trust,” Ryan said. “But I didn’t know him personally, but certainly knew him professionally and watched what they did. They had a lot of success in Tennessee. They did a great job there.”
Ryan hasn’t allowed himself to think of the an offense with wide receiver Julio Jones, rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Calvin Ridley and the rest of the team’s offensive weapons.
“We’re really at the beginning of this,” Ryan said. “We are making sure we can get lined up in our formations. Making sure that we understand what routes we have on certain concepts.”
The Falcons must revamp their backfield and fix their offensive-line woes.
“I’m excited for the guys that we have in the building for sure,” Ryan said. “I feel like there are guys that are highly competitive that want to win football games. I’m excited about things from that standpoint, but we have a long way to go.”
Ryan doesn’t have a huge learning curve in Smith’s version of the West Coast offensive scheme, which will feature outside-zone and inside-zone runs.
“From a language standpoint, I’ve played in a number of different systems now,” Ryan said. “It’s like a combination of a couple of them. I’ll go back and the formations are really similar to West Coast formations, which I’ve played in for a number of years. The protections are very similar. The concepts are similar as well.”
Ryan said it’s just a matter of getting the terminology down and associating the right words with the right concepts and formations.
“The biggest difference comes from getting the flavor for how the coaching staff is going to game plan,” Ryan said. “What the week is going to look like? How are they going to call plays? Trying to get on the same page as fast as you can is probably the most important part.”
Several Falcons voted to opt out of the voluntary offseason program.
“We collectively bargained for it to be optional and voluntary a couple of years ago,” Ryan said. “I fully support guys making whatever decisions they want to make. Whatever they think is best for them to get themselves ready to go.”
Ryan wouldn’t say want the attendance has been like.
“I’m fired up to be here,” Ryan said. “For me, I feel like it gives me the best opportunity to be successful. I think, for all guys, they have to make whatever decisions are best for them. That’s kind of been the case throughout my entire career to be honest with you. There have been guys that haven’t (participated in offseason team activities).
“You trust the guys that are doing it on their own are doing a great job of getting themselves ready to go and are in shape. I have a lot of trust and belief that those guys will be ready to rock in July.”
Ryan was fine with the team electing not to take a quarterback of the future in the recent NFL draft.
“It didn’t really change my confidence level or my approach in any way,” Ryan said. “I think that I always prepare every year as hard as I possibly can to give myself the best chance to be successful.”
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