What the Falcons had to say after the loss to the Chargers

TROY ANDERSEN, linebacker

On his return: “It’s always fun to play. It would have been more fun to win. There are going to be some things that we can build on going forward. Get corrected and get back in the win column.”

On the pass rush: “I think that’s one of those things that we’ve been working to detail and dial in on. That’s something that going to be important for us going forward. You have to be able to affect the quarterback, especially good quarterbacks like Justin Herbert. We are going to have to continue doing that going forward.”

On coach Raheem Morris message to the team after the game: “We control our own destiny, but it’s up to us to go and take it. It starts with us at practice. (Going over the) game film (on Monday). Then yeah, just taking it one week at a time and getting back in the win column. We know we have the right guys and we’re excited to move forward.”

NATE LANDMAN, linebacker

On bouncing back from the tough loss: “I’m not worried about us bouncing back. You’ve seen the resilience of this team. The guys that are on this team. You cover us and know the kind of guys in our locker room. They kind of guys they bring in. That’s the least of my worries of us bouncing back. I think like kind of what happened after Seattle. This is something that bounce back from and something that we’ve had experience in the past, so we know how to deal with it. I still love this team and the guys in the room. I’m excited for what we’ve got coming up. We are 6-6. All of our opportunities are in front of us.”

On the pass rush: “That was awesome to see those guys get going. It was a big emphasis this week and the pass weeks. Today, that dam kind of broke. They got to the quarterback. Those guys were rushing hard. They got their opportunity. They capitalized on them. That was good to see. When that happens, our defense plays better. We get off the field and it helps out our offense. A big credit for those guys getting that job done this week. Happy to see them do it again next week.”

GRADY JARRETT, defensive tackle

On the pass rush: “We should have been six. I missed that one there at the end. I had him and let him go. We still got the stop and got off the field. It was just amazing improvement by the whole group. Super excited to continue to build off of that. Continue to hunt. Super encouraging because everybody got a piece of him. It was just great to be a part of. We want to continue to build off that performance.”

On message to the team for the bye week: ”To regroup, revaluate, see some things we could do better and see what we’ve done well. See what personnel that we can put together to be more effective. Coach Raheem turned the heat up on us this week, which is good for everybody involved and I think we definitely responded well. So, I’m just super excited to get back to work, we control what we can control and always trying to find ways to get better”

On building off of defensive momentum into next week’s game after a loss: ”You know it’s now or never. You have to flip the mindset fast. We’re disappointed today to be unable to get the win. But at the end of the day, you get an opportunity, that’s all you can ask for is to have the opportunity to go back. We definitely need to look back on this one and see where we can get better at all phases. We have to respond fast. That’s the reality, we have the guys to do that, the coaching staff to do it and it’s going to come to fruition. I’m excited to see it happen.”

CLARK PHILLIPS III, cornerback

On the defense: “It was amazing it was good. Got a lot of sacks. Helped us get some turnovers, stuff like that. We just have to continue to capitalize.”

On the team’s confidence: “We are not going to waver. We know who we are and what we’ve got to do.”

More on the defense: “I feel like we just have to keep on plugging away. We took a step in the right direction. But we just have to continue to build. It wasn’t enough today, but next week we’ll keep on plugging along. We’ll keep on playing.”

On the season-high five sacks: “Definitely encouraging. We have to keep on going. We are going to make some things happen next week.”

DARNELL MOONEY, wide receiver

On Kirk Cousins going back to Minnesota: “He’s a pro. I think it’ll put some fire under him to go back… go back and make some plays. It’s a good story for everybody to help him win that game or have a good game.”

On the defense giving them a chance to win the game: “They’ve been doing that all year. Whenever we’ve needed them, they made a big stop or make a big play for us to go down and score. They’ve been doing that all year.”

On most frustrating part of the offense: “Not scoring in points in the red zone. I kind of feels like that’s been the deal all year long. We get all the way down there and don’t score. We have to find some ways… as a team… everybody doing their job, getting points on the board.”

On fixing the red zone woes: “I have no idea right now. I have to watch them and see where we went wrong. I always feel comfortable with the plan that we go into each week with our game plan. It hasn’t been working out too well for us.”

CHRIS LINDSTROM, right guard

On the tough loss: “You don’t want to lose coming off the bye at home. Very tough game. Disappointing that we didn’t get it done.”

On the red zone and passing attack: “I think we did a better job collectively playing penalty free. Staying on track and moving the ball. I just think, I always look introspectively, make sure the pocket is clean so that he has time. Being able to run the ball when we get down in there. When we get those opportunities, we have to capitalize.”

On the support for Kirk Cousins: “Kirk is fantastic. We love him and he’s the leader of this team. He drives us every single day. He is the guy who brings energy every single day. He’s there for us. He’s a huge reason why we are here in this spot, first in the division. We hit a bump in a road, but it’s not going to stop us from going forward.”