What the Falcons had to say after the 18-10 loss to the Steelers

On what the offense can build on: “Just stay consistent running the ball, passing the ball. When can’t make turnovers. When we do that we have to go out there and execute the right way the sky is the limit for us. We’ve got to do the little things first. We have to secure our blocks and don’t let (anyone) loose. When we do that, we have the talent, the speed and the physicality to move the ball. But for today, our first time out there together, like, how do we know what we can’t do.”

On the same page: “Yes, pretty much for the whole game. There were some slips up. There were some miscommunication things. I think for the most part, we were on the same page. We all got the play calls. We all knew our assignments, but there are some different things that can really hurt you. It’s those small details that cause a turnover. So those are the kind of plays that we have to eliminate this week in practice.”

On the 60 percent of snaps: “No pressure. No pressure at all. It’s a blessing to do that. I’m trying to do what I can to make this offense explosive. …you can’t control everything. I’m going to do whatever I can to get us rolling.”

Grady Jarrett, defensive tackle

On the game: “We can always get better, however it goes. We have to be able to respond. It’s a team game for a reason. If they are having a hard day on offense, we have to be that much better. The same thing if it slips the other way. I think there was a lot to learn from. We can continue to get better.”

On playing with Judon: “It was awesome to have Judon as a part of the squad. I think he’s just warming up. I think he’s going to have an awesome season for us.”

On the fourth-down stop: “That was an awesome stop. A great way to response. We tried to get the offense a chance to go score. You just have to control what you can control.”

On returning after knee surgery: “It felt amazing. Just can’t wait to put some more good football out there.”

On first time out with a lot of new guys: “I think we did well. I think there is some room for improvement, for sure. That’s the exciting part. There is some room for improvement for sure. That’s the exciting part. I couldn’t be any more prouder of the guys. I just know that we have so much more football ahead of us.”

On what they build upon: “We played with great effort. We communicated well most of the time and we responded to challenging circumstances. We stood up when the odds were against us…. there is a lot of fight left in us. This is just the first game.”

Micah Abernathy, safety

On not kicking to Cordarrelle Patterson: “I think it was more of the gameplan, see what the new kickoff would be like. Everybody was kind of feeling it out. It wasn’t necessarily about him. We are going to do whatever we want to do regardless of who’s back there. But I think we were just feeling it out. Just playing the game. The game within the game. Whether if it was field position or whatever that my be. That was really most of it.”

On the punt return wall for Avery Williams: “I was on the left side. A was a part of the return. We were trying to get some space out there let Avery hit it and do what he was supposed to do. He was the best returner in the league at one point. He took an off year and we’re trying to get him back there.”

Avery Williams, punt returner

On playing again: “It feels good. It’s been a long time. I haven’t been out there since January for 23.”

On the return right: “The guys executed. We got a couple of first downs. We always have to look at the film and improve. We have to figure out how we can help this team even more on special teams. I’m excited to get back after it for next week.”

Mike Hughes, cornerback

On playing with the defense: “If felt good today. I know we fell short today, but I see a bright future with this defense. I think we’ve got a lot of guys. We can turn this thing around. It’s only Week 1. Nobody is panicking. We’re going to learn from mistakes. We’re going to correct them this week and come back stronger.”

On how the Steelers tried to attack: “We knew they are going to try to grind the ball a little bit and then take their shots. For the most part, we knew we were going to have to stop the run. They hit some big plays. You have to tip your hates to them. There are definitely somethings we could have done better to prevent a lot of those things. They had 18 points and then you realize those were all field goals. There are a lot of things we can clean up, but we’ll be alright.”

Ray-Ray McCloud, wide receiver

On his big catch over the middle: “I was just locked in. I felt like the quarterback could get it to me. I was in a good situation…the ball was in the air, and it was anybody’s ball. I’d rather me get it and they get it. That was that.”

On first time playing together, things to build on: “Of course. Always. It’s a good feeling, we go out there every day. We practice hard. Preseason didn’t have (anything) to do with it. It’s just more so coming together and loving the process. It’s the NFL.”

Justin Simmons, safety

On the first time playing together: “It felt good. Obviously, it was not the result that you want. It’s part of the process. Now 16 game season. This is game one. There was some good, obviously some bad. Just like if we’d won it, watch the tape, come back for next week.”

On how he and Jessie Bates III are vibing: “Good. We’ve been in preparation up to this game, the secondary in general. The coaching staff did a good job of acclimating me, catching me up. It felt like home playing out there and playing with the guys. There are always things I need to clean up and we’ll be better getting ready to go for Week 2 at Philly.”

Matthew Judon, outside linebacker

On the defense: “We came out and we were physical. I don’t think they out-physicaled us. They had some scheme runs that kind of hit. We were physical and we all ran to the ball. When you can get that type of motion off the first week…. we did a pretty good job of tackling. When you don’t play in the (exhibition) season, that’s what you worry about and that is what you struggle with, but we did a pretty good job. Then if somebody shoot their shoot, everybody else was following. That’s what we have to continue to do. That’s what we have to building upon.”

On Justin Fields: “He’s a mobile quarterback. Justin Fields is probably one of the fastest quarterbacks in the league. What he lacks with his arm, which I don’t think he’s lacking in arm-talent, he excels with his feet. It’s difficult just to stop him. When we are rushing him, you know our rush lanes have to stay proper …if he’s get a big gap, he’s gone.

On the first time out: “We did all right. There is stuff that we’ve got to build upon. There is stuff that we’ve got to do better. As far as our performance, we have to keep them under 100 rush yards. That has to be something that we can hang our hats on and make them one-dimensional. Make them have to pass.”

On the fourth-down stop: “We just have to keep them out of the end zone. That quarterback sneak was working the whole night and we stopped it in a critical moment.”

Kyle Pitts, Tight end

On his evaluation of the team’s performance: “Obviously we’ve got to try and work on minimizing those turnovers, but there were some good things that came out of it. We can go back to the tape and look at it and fix it going into tomorrow.”

On the opening drive and using it moving forward to next week: “Just having a positive outlook and seeing us move the ball down the field and capitalize on going into the red zone to score.”

On sharing the ball offensively between the talent at the skill positions: “I mean, we’re all competitors. We call it competitive excellence and just put it all together in there by feeding off each other.”

Chris Lindstrom, right guard

On QB Kirk Cousins’ demeanor: “Kirk is a phenomenal leader; I think we just have to take it upon ourselves to be better for him.”

On OLB T.J. Watt: “T.J. is one of the best players in the NFL, defensive MVP, he did a great job today, but we just have to be better.”

On balancing expectations with today’s result: “I thank the independent medical team and those guys. I got hit in the back of the head and just grabbed my helmet for a second and I’m glad those guys inspected me. I was totally fine. I think it’s just a testament to the way the NFL is taking care of guys now and I’m glad they are doing stuff like that.”

Jake Matthews, left tackle.

On what changed in the second half for the offense: “From what I remember, it just seemed like a lot of us being able to get going, and then we’d get a penalty that would set us back, and it’s hard to dig yourself out of a 2nd-and-15 or 3rd-and-12, whatever it may. It’s the NFL. That’s a really good defense and when you put yourself at a disadvantage, it’s hard to dig yourself out of it.”

On Pittsburgh’s defensive line: “Like I said, I got to see it all because I’m trying to do one job out there and I don’t get a big picture of everything that’s happening. We knew going into it that they have a really good front, we knew they had guys on both edges and a good front seven that play firm defense and get after the quarterback. There’s always going to be stuff you have to fix, but we’ll look at it. The biggest thing that comes to my mind is that we had our opportunities, and unfortunately we didn’t capitalize on them because we kept making mistakes. If you do that in this league, anyone is good enough to beat you.”