FLOWERY BRANCH — Here’s what Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke had to say about the Colts, his team’s opponent at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:

On whether he knows Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew: “I don’t know him personally, but I feel like we would be pretty close as friends. I just think he looks like he has a lot of fun out there. He has a lot of passion for the game, and it looks like he’s a kind of a wild-spirited guy.”

On whether he sees the similarities in his and Minshew’s careers: “Yeah, I respect him, I respect him a lot. He’s bounced around from team to team. When his number is called, he goes out there and performs well.”

On what the Colts’ defense presents: “I played this team last year with Washington. Very sound defense, they don’t do anything out of the blue. They’re just very sound, very well-coached. It’s going to be crucial for us just not to turn the ball over, don’t get bored, just take in completions, but again, I think the biggest thing is not turn the ball over. We just got to stay on track not get behind the chains and play our type of football.”

On the Colts’ use of pass rushers: “Their front four is very good, especially their two interior guys (defensive tackles Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner), those are really good players. We’ll have our hands full with them. We have a good offensive line as well, so it’s going to be a good matchup.”

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