What Falcons players had to say after the 23-20 loss to Titans
Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 23-20 loss Friday to the Titans:
CB Natrone Brooks
On what helped him have such a strong performance: “Just an array of my tools, trust what I’ve seen at practice throughout the week. Kind of got those same looks, so I tried to take what I took from practice this week and apply it to the game. When I saw that look, I was trying to kind of anticipate that route, so I just stayed there and played the route and just trusted.”
On whether training camp and competing for a roster spot feel different this year: “Yeah, it feels different every year because every year you get more confidence and you understand how this league works. The longer you stay around, you feel like you’re always having a better chance to put your best foot forward, so I just go out every day and just work and just let God take care of the rest.”
On how a player can tell if he is having a ‘good’ training camp: “You can always tell if you’re having a good camp. You know when you’re having good days and consistently good days. That’s the thing about camp that you want to try to do: have consistent good days. Everybody can come out and have one good day. You know you’re having a good camp once you have consistently good days. That’s what I try to do: have consistent good days.”
TE Teagan Quitoriano
On his forced fumble on kickoff return: “I just got off my block, and I saw the returner was running right at me. It was my first kickoff rep of my career. So, I was like ‘Man, I’m going to make this play right here.’ Wrapped him up and just felt my hand on the ball and just ripped it out. It fell right on my feet, just dropped down on it. It was good to make a play on that phase.”
On the team’s performance during the third quarter and what it means to be a part of it: “It feels great. Anytime we can help the team win and compete, it just feels great.”
On what was going through his head on the first kickoff return rep of his career: “Just trying to make a play. I’m just looking to make a play whenever I can.”
WR Chris Blair
On what he saw on the touchdown: “Cover-2 look. The safety didn’t get over in time, and it was just pretty much an option route on the sliding. I think everybody kind of drove on the option route and kind of left that open, so used to seeing it. It was kind of the same play that we had the first time we threw the interception, and we just came back to it and made the correct move.”
On how the offense performed: “We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, but we came in after halftime and just kind of got back to the drawing board and just had to get back to the fundamentals. We had a lot of presnap penalties and things like that. It wasn’t nothing that they were doing, but we were kind of hurting ourselves. Once we came back out, we settled down.”
On how important it is for a receiver is to make plays with a lot of other talented guys around him: “Very important. We take every opportunity and try to make the most of it. This is special in our room. It’s a lot of competition. We’ve got great wide receivers. The main thing is you just want to show the coaches that you know where to align where assigned and that you can go out and make plays as well.”
RB Nathan Carter
On what making plays meant for the running back room: “It’s huge. Not just for me, but really for the entire running back room for us to be able to put stuff like that on tape. We all work extremely hard to be able to work and get better every single day. Obviously, we have Bijan (Robinson) and Tyler (Allgeier). Those are guys who thank me and encourage me. When I scored that touchdown, the first thing I saw was those guys up there, and that’s huge. I look up to those guys so much and just being able to learn off of them. Those are two of the best backs in the entire league. It’s amazing for them just being able to help me out, and for us as a team to be able to continue to get better every single day, to continue to push the offense so we can be the best offense in all of the National Football League.”
On RBs Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson being more excited than he was on the touchdown: “Yeah, they did. That just speaks to the culture that we have in the running back room. It really is a family. We all love to compete with each other, and we’re all brothers at the end of the day. It’s just amazing for those guys to be able to be there for me in that moment. It was a very special moment. I’m excited that they were able to celebrate me, and vice versa when they get rolling.”
On taking advantage of the opportunity to play Friday: “I just try to take advantage of every opportunity I have. Los (Carlos Washington), he’s an amazing player, he’s an amazing brother. I wish that he was out there with us, to run with us, but at the end of the day I know that he’s cheering for me. We’re hoping that he gets back healthy so he can go out there and do what he needs to do. All of us, we’re really great (running) backs. I’m excited to be able to be in this opportunity and be in this position and also be able to see the other guys as well who I’ve been playing with throughout the whole entire practice throughout the week, to be able to do their thing as well.”
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.
