Falcons’ Raheem Morris: ‘The toughest time of the year is upon us’
ARLINGTON, Texas — Falcons coach Raheem Morris’ comments after Friday night’s 31-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys:
Opening statement: “The toughest time of the year is upon us. We have to go back and sit down and make some real critical decisions. Obviously, some of the guys (were) out there with their last-ditch efforts in order to get on the football team. With that said, we’ll be opening it up for questions.”
On who were some of the guys who jumped out at him: “Obviously, when you get a chance to go out there (in) these games, you get a chance to see some real, live special team plays. And you got a chance to see a big-time hit by Josh (Woods). You got a chance to see some guys go out and get some opportunities to return the ball.
Obviously, (running back Elijah) Dotson came in and got a couple big runs there in the second half to really spark us and get some things going. There were some people up front that got some real opportunities, whether it was (Matthew) Cindric, whether it was (Joshua) Gray.
And all those guys getting in there and show that they can go out there and actually play some football for us. Those are always good moments to see. Those are always good moments to go out there and evaluate some people. A bunch of the guys went out there and did it.
We’ll go back and grade the tape. We’ll be able to watch it. These decisions aren’t made easily. These decisions aren’t taken lightly. We’ll get a chance to watch our guys, grade those guys and talk about it.”
On Kaleb McGary’s injury situation: “The thing I’ll say to you now, is he’ll miss a significant time. Obviously, it looks like an IR or whatever the case may be. … But he’ll miss a significant time.”
On Elijah Wilkinson not playing vs. the Cowboys: “It’s about what happens at the tackle position and our ability to go out there and be able to compete. You know, Elijah’s done a lot of good things in the National Football League. He’s played a lot for us. He’s been here with us throughout the course of the last year and the course of this year. We’re fired up to get those guys out there. Watch those guys play and compete and see if we can going to able to go out there and be on the first-team.”
More on McGary: “I don’t know all the details of it, but I know we’ll have an IR status there as well.”
On Natrone Brooks and Dee Alford switching roles: “We’re always talking about the versatility of the football team. (Alford went outside and Brooks played some nickel). We’ve got guys going out there looking for spots.
We watched Natrone go inside and play a little bit for us. Or you can watch Dee Alford go outside and play for us. So, whatever happens during the course of the season you want to be able to put the best guy out there. Dee Alford was in a tight battle out there with Billy (Bowman Jr.). So, those guys would have significant roles at different positions. But to watch those guys be able to go out and do different things, based on the unfortunate things that happen in our game when you’re talking about injuries.
When you’re talking about how you win this game or how you game-plan this game. So, it was always nice to see people be able to have different roles.”
On defensive lineman Zach Harrison: “He’s done such a great job of building a steady role for us in what he wants to do and how it looks. He’s done such a great job of providing us effort and providing us energy. I look forward to him moving forward with us (and I think) he will do really good things for us this season.”
On the depth along the offensive line with McGary and Norton out: “It’s amazing, it’s amazing. We just had this conversation … The truth is in the guys that we have. You talk about Elijah Wilkinson stepping up. We (have) Jack Nelson, (he played a) significant amount of reps in the (exhibition games). We got the veteran in Jake Matthews. We got people like (Brandon) Parker that can play more. He’s played significant ball in the National Football League. We (have) got to go find a way to win football games, whoever is out there playing for us. So, we look forward to that challenge.”
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
