What the Falcons had to say after the win over the Commanders

On how important the win was: “It was very important. It breeds confidence. But you know I felt like last week was supposed to happen. It put us in a new mindset and it drove us to a different (place) … We understood that if we put that stuff on film, it’s not good for (anybody). Teammates, coaches … now as a leader on offense I can’t let us do nothing that’s less than. I have to make sure that we are always urgent, that we have so much urgency in practice and we are not taking plays off. We are finishing. We are doing all of the little things so that we can put up results like that. We still have so much more in the tank. We know that we can control the game however we want to control it.”

On getting caught on the 69-yard run: “That’s a fine. That’s a fine in every room, too. I was so mad. I’m not going to lie. He had an angle on me. I saw him and I was going to out run him. He got my foot. … I saw my coach (Michael Pitre) and was like (disappointed look) … I’ll get it back.”

On career-high in receiving yards: “That’s what I like to do. Be an all-around player. Doing it in the run game. In the pass game. That’s why I’m here, to show the gifts that God had given me on both sides, running routes, being a receiver to being a running back. That’s what I like to do. It only helps this offense. It only helps this team.”

On Zac Robinson being on the sideline: “We could see his face. Tell him what we see. He was down there with us. It was good today.”

On if it was a huge difference: “I really can’t say. I’m not the one getting the play calls on the headphones or anything like that. So, I don’t see a difference. The thing that I did see a difference is that we can see his face. You can see his demeanor. He can see our demeanor when he’s down on the field.”

On if the offense feeds off his energy: “Yes, there were some big plays that were made by Bijan and everybody else. But again, that’s where I got to go in my leadership role. If they feed off it, that’s great. That’s a good thing.”

On four recent top 10 picks on the offense: “Spread the wealth. That’s what it is. It’s simple. Everybody gets touches. Everybody gets a piece of the pie. It was good.”

On getting the win: “Everything. It meant the world to me today. Everybody making plays that may not been shown in the public eye but it’s springing Tyler (Allgeier). It’s springing Bijan (Robinson) or me. Pass blocking. All of that stuff. It does wonders.”

On needing a big game for himself: “I don’t really like to talk about my personal stuff. But it did feel good.”

On the win: “This was huge. Last week wasn’t up to our standard. Wasn’t what we wanted to put on tape. But it happened. Those moments are gut checks together. Look yourself in the mirror as an individual as a team. We did that. We came out here and shocked the Commanders. They are a very good team. I know they are a little banged up. But they threw all of the punches they had at us. We were able to keep bouncing back, keep putting points on the board. We got some stops when we needed them the most. Got the win. It was a big bounceback win.”

On his joint sack: “Anytime that you can get after the quarterback it affects the game in huge ways. It makes the quarterback mindset … it was a big stop on that play. Puts a little pressure on them moving forward. Getting after the quarterback, it’s one of those areas where a defense can really put pressure on the offense to make them react to you. When you can get those plays, especially early in the game it helps you out.”

On the complementary football: “It was big time. Anytime your brother is struggling, pick him up. Anytime he’s rolling, let’s just help him keep rolling. We were able to keep the offense on the field a lot. I saw the time of possession was highly in our favor. I love the way they were running the ball. I love the explosive plays they were able to hit.”

On getting the win: “It feels really good especially the circumstances of last week, the way we bounced back. Just the accountability that the team took against a really good team, too. It feels really good.”

On setting the tone by jumping out to a 10-0 lead: “I think with just the week as an (offensive) lineman, we wanted to run the ball really well this game. We challenged ourselves. We said when we get our opportunities let’s make them count. We did a pretty good job of that for the most part. That’s a really good front. When you get that many attempts running the football, we were trying to wear them down and it helped.”

On the play of the running backs: “That was the hope. When those runs were called we made the most of it. We kept going back to it. That’s awesome for an offensive lineman to keep mixing it up like that. When we had to throw the ball, man, Mike did a great job hanging in there, making great reads and getting the ball out. As an offense, there is still stuff to improve on. Just a really good way to bounce back after last week and get that bad feeling out of there.”

On the play of Michael Penix Jr.: “He’s going to be calm and collected regardless of the situation. So, after a big win, he’s coming with a great attitude and working hard. Then obviously after the disappointing loss, he didn’t skip a beat. He came in and went back to work. You have to respect a guy like that. He doesn’t fluctuate up and down, try to reach and try to do too much. He’s just the consummate pro with the way that he handled himself all week. I think that was the big reason why he played so well today.”

On his interception: “Just playing the post and trusting that I would see it if he let loose. Then I had to track the throw.”

On his first four games: “I’m definitely getting more comfortable. It’s been a bumpy road. Still some challenges. Some things I need to clean up. It’s only four games. I’m just trying to progress each week.”

More on the interception: “It’s just a momentum swing. They were in the scoring territory. Just getting that ball, taking that ball away and getting back to our offense was a good momentum swing.”

On have a win going into the bye week: “Last week, we were pretty down about that loss. So, just making sure that we got a win before we take on this break was very key.”

On takeaways from the win: “Improvement on the little things. Just cleaning up the mistakes and making sure that what we did the last week doesn’t show up a again. We did a good job of cleaning up our mistakes and playing better this week.”

On the win: “It was big time. The first two weeks we showed that we can be a really good team in this league. Last week wasn’t a testament to that at all. I thought we did a really good job of responding today as a whole group. There are still things that we can clean up, but we are on the right road for sure.”

On making plays at all levels of the defense: “That’s how it goes. We always talk about our rush and coverage going together. I think we had some sacks early, which is really good to see. Then the guys on the back end we started to get interceptions. I thought the first two weeks we showed that we can be a really good team in this league. Last week we didn’t play and today was a great way to respond, for sure.”

On going into the bye week with a win: “It’s a big win. It was almost like a ‘got to have it’ type of game before we go into our bye week. Then we have a big primetime game coming back. We need our fans. We need the whole city to come out and support us because we are going to get hot. I know that we will.”