Falcons’ Raheem Morris: ‘We’ve got to make those kicks’
Here’s what Falcons coach Raheem Morris had to say after the 23-20 loss to the Bucs on Sunday:
Opening Statement: “Typical Buccaneers and Falcons game, going down to the wire. Obviously, we’d like to have a couple of those things back, whether it be a kick, whether it be a possession. Those things always come up like that, especially in this game and that’s something that we can go correct and clean up for tomorrow. So, we’ll get that done.”
On how they will address K Younghoe Koo’s missed kick: “Yeah, he missed it. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I could tell you about the technique of what happened with that miss, but we’ve got to make those kicks. Those are very makeable kicks and that’s something we’ve got to lock in and make those kicks and get it done.”
On his thoughts on the offensive line’s performance in the run game: “They did a nice job. It’s nothing to do with the run. It’s nothing to do with the pass. They do a nice job of zone pressure, and these guys do a nice job of that. We’ve got to do a better job of executing our plan versus pressure, getting some of those runs off and increase some of those things. We were not able to get that done. Luckily, our quarterback got us going and was able to go out there and sprinkle the ball around a little bit and keep us in the field of possession and that really helped us. But we’ve got to find a way to run the football better, particularly with the two backs we have and our guys up front.”
On what made him confident things would be different with K Younghoe Koo after his missed kicks last season: “It goes to your preparation, your offseason, watching him train, watching him do what he has to do. You’ve got a lot of confidence in what he’s done for us in the past. That stuff doesn’t happen, you’ve got to make those changes and those corrections. You’ve got to have confidence in your guys and you always will.”
On QB Michael Penix’s composure throughout the game: "Yeah, that’s what he’s shown since he’s been here. He’s been excellent. He’s been poised in great moments and he’s been poised in big moments and he’s been poised in moments like that just then. I can’t say enough positive things about the young man and what he was able to do, even up to his last throw, potentially giving us a chance to win it in regulation. I can’t say enough good things about him right now.”
On whether they will give K Lenny Krieg an opportunity to compete for a starting role this week: “We gave him a shot to compete the whole offseason. The entire offseason, all those guys.”
On whether the kicking competition will continue into the regular season: “It’s always highly competitive throughout the week, every single week. We don’t make those decisions off a whiplash-type of decisions. You always go back, you figure out what happened. We don’t know what happened right now. We don’t know whether it was a bad snap. We don’t know whether it was a bad hold. I don’t want to make excuses for Koo, but you’ve got to go find out those things right now.”
On what he thought about the pass rush today: “Started off well. We got a chance to get him around the cut. We just couldn’t get him on the ground. He scrambled for big third downs. He scrambled for a bunch of plays there that looked like they were rushing yards and [Buccaneers QB] Baker [Mayfield] is tough to get on the ground. But, it was much improved. There was something that we saw that was able to get to them. We got the one sack, I believe, maybe a sack on the first play, I’m not sure. But, it was much more improved.”
On WR Drake London’s injury status: “I don’t know what happened. I know he hurt his shoulder. We’ll have more on that, obviously, when he gets out of his x-rays and of that nature.”
On how he makes sure this loss and the emotions from it do not snowball: “You know, we are not an emotional team that way. We always go back and make decisions based on how we can play better. We’re not really emotional that way. None of our guys are and none of our coaches are. We’ve got to find a way to get a win next week. We’ve got to clean up and correct the things that happened today and find a way to get a win next week. We were that close today. I don’t think anything is causing panic. I think our guys will go find a way to win the game next week.”
On his overall opinion of QB Michael Penix Jr.’s performance and his decision making: “Like I said just a minute ago, I can’t say enough positive things about him. Him going out there and not turning the football over, getting us to the right reads, the nice protections, throwing the ball in the right areas, making the right plays at the right times. He was lights out. We’ve got to help that kid and win the game today.”
On his assessment of the pass rush and rookies EDGE Jalon Walker and EDGE James Pearce Jr.: “I’ve got to go actually look at those two in particular. But, we did move the guy out of the spot. He was able to scramble out, break a couple tackles, so we’ve got to go figure out if we can get him down on the ground. I’ve got to look at that on the tape.”
On ILB Divine Deablo’s performance: “We missed a couple big-time opportunities out there, whether it be interceptions in a couple different occasions, and I know Divine was a part of that. He was definitely a part of us in coverage. He did such a nice job in those things, whether it be run fits or in the passing game. He definitely affected the pass when he had a chance to rush in there and did some really good things as well. He’s as advertised, and he did a nice job for us today.”
On what he thought of the officiating today: “Those guys are human. They’re going to always make mistakes. We’re going to make mistakes. That’s why we have the amount of cameras that we have in the stadium, for those types of things. That’s why we have the rules that we have, in order to get those things played out the right way. Our stadium did a great job of showing us what we needed to get shown and to be able to challenge those things when they came up. I’m never going to point fingers at officials for making high-speed decisions on the grass. That’s impossible for just about anybody. So, we’ve got to make those decisions – and they got it right at the end of the day. That’s all I can say.”
On the officials reviewing the out-of-bounds play in the last two minutes of the game and the rules on reviews after the two-minute warning: “Anything under two-minute – when they step out of bounds, they review all those things. They take care of it upstairs. They took care of it upstairs. He stepped out of bounds. They went back, gave us 21 seconds and a chance to go out there and finish off the game.”
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.
