Coach Smith saw young team mature on road

A snippet of Mike Smith’s postgame news conference following Sunday’s win over Green Bay.

Opening statement:

As you guys know, wins are tough to come by in this league, especially on the road. I think this is one of the toughest road environments in the NFL. I thought that our guys fought until the end. That’s what it took. That is a good football team. It was a physical game. We had some solid performances I think in all phases. Offensively, defensively and on specials teams. It was good to get the win. With that I’ll take your questions.

Q. What were some of the keys to your quick start today?

A. I think it was a very quick start. Matt [Ryan] got the first play and was able to throw the ball down the field. I think he was 6 of 7 in the first drive. We got Michael [Turner] moving, running the football. I thought the offensive line did an outstanding job on the first drive.

Defensively, the first two drives were three-and-outs. That was the kind of a start that we wanted. We need to make sure that we do sustain that through 60 minutes. There are ebbs and flows through football games and I think the thing that we’ve got to work on is sustaining it for an entire game.

Q. Did you sense that your team grew up some today?

A. I think it was a big win for us. We’ve had some success at home. This was confirmation of what we are doing as a football team. I really believe that. This confirms that we can go on the road and win in a hostile environment. I think it’s very big for our young football team.

Q. Could you talk about Michael Turner’s play today?

A. We wanted to come out and run the ball and he had 110 yards. There was some tough sledding. They had guys up in gaps and were loading the box, but I felt that as the game wore on he got stronger and stronger. That’s one of the attributes that Michael has.

Q. Did getting Sam Baker back help your run blocking today?

A. It was very good to see Sam back out there. Sam got the majority of the snaps today. I’d really have to watch the tape on that. But I didn’t feel like there was any let down with him being back out there.