What the Falcons had to say after the loss to the Bucs
Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 23-20 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday. (Kicker Younghoe Koo elected not to address the media):
CHARLIE WOERNER, tight end
On the loss: “Yes, it was a tough game. Especially, to a division rival. It’s never good to lose those. I just think it’s Week 1. I know we’ll hit the ground running (on Monday) and clean it up for Sunday Night Football.”
On getting the run game going: “I think we’ve got a great running game. I think Tampa, hats off to them. They had a good scheme today. They were bringing pressures and blitzes and moving guys all around. They were changing personnel the whole game. They did a good job of stopping the run game. I think we just have got to be true to what we do, true to who we are and iron out the details.”
On if the offense can build from the overall performance: “We’ll take the good plays and the bad plays and build off of those.”
On if losing Kaleb McGary hurt the run game: “This is the same running game with or without Kaleb. Hats off to the Bucs. They did an incredible job.”
More on the run game: “You definitely got to get your ground game going. That will set up the play action. It’s kind of takes the pressure off the quarterback and backs guys up. But, yeah, we definitely have to get the run game going. I have no doubt that we will do better with that next week.”
JAKE MATTHEWS, left tackle
On Younghoe Koo: “Yeah, I have all the confidence in Koo. Love the way that he handles himself. The teammate that he is. He has made huge plays for this organization. I definitely have the utmost confidence in him.”
On if he talked to Koo: “I haven’t had a chance to talk to him.”
On his 180th start: “The good Lord has been good to me. I can claim that I’m doing something special. I’m just very grateful and blessed to hang around this long. But I feel great. I hope to do this for a lot longer.”
On the run game: “Definitely not our standard. I think Tampa did a really good job earlier. They gave us looks early. We adapted and were able to get some stuff going. A couple of penalties hurt us here and there on bigger runs, but part of being a pro is you have to look at this figure out what didn’t work and what did. Improve next week. That’s what we’ll focus on. Like you said, today wasn’t the standard we expect from ourselves.”
On Michael Penix Jr. running the ball: “Yeah, I mean two huge plays come to mind, down there in the red zone. That gave us a chance to win the game. That put us in a good spot right after that. Just the way, what I’ve noticed from him, he’s so calm and collected under pressure. Just makes plays when his number is called to have someone on your team like that is really special.”
BILLY BOWMAN JR., nickel back
On coach Raheem Morris message to the team: “We just have to keep going. This was a tough one. Coming into this game, there were 10 all of us young guys. Almost all of these games in the NFL come down to one possession. I witnessed that for myself tonight. We just have to be better in crunch time and the penalties, we have to let go of those.”
On the stopping Baker Mayfield: “We went over there and we had a lot of adjustments that were made, but yeah, there are great players on the other side too. We have to do our deal. As a defense I thought we played pretty stout. I definitely think there are things to improve on.”
On things to improve on: “I would say keeping the quarterback in the pocket. Baker was using his legs to get out of there. Containing the quarterback. Just for myself, getting tighter in coverage down the field.”
ARNOLD EBIKETIE, outside linebacker
On the tough loss: “It was tough. It was a divisional game. So every time against the team in the same division, it’s always hurt to lose, especially in the fashion that we did. We just have to regroup and get ready for next week.”
On the defense not closing out the game: “Just in that particular time, we’ve got to be better. We had a chance to close the game in that instance and we didn’t. That’s something that we have to continue to work on.”
On the pass rush: “It felt good. We didn’t have the amount of sacks that we wanted to have out there. It’s a matter of getting back to work and fix some of the things that we can to try to rush as a unit a little bit better. I know that I believe we can fix it.”
On closing out games in the future: “We have to get sacks. It’s a simple thing to do.”
On any words of encouragement to Koo: “It’s not really about words of encouragement. It’s about getting back to work.“
DIVINE DEABLO, inside linebacker
On his main goals for the season: “I think speed and physicality. Those are my two main goals this year, is just to keep bringing the speed and be everywhere.”
On how you keep the kicker confident: “Personally, I feel like kicking is an underrated job. You get one chance, and it’s a hard job. I will stand behind him every time; it’s not his fault. It’s everybody’s fault, the whole team, we just have to play better.”
On what makes QB Baker Mayfield difficult as an opponent: “He can throw the ball and he has the ability to extend plays with his legs. I feel like that makes him very difficult to deal with because he escaped the pocket way too many times. I feel like most of their rushing yards came from him [Baker Mayfield] rushing, so we just have to be better.”
On what he sees from the young pass rushers: “I see effort for sure. I see them winning in the future; they’re just going to keep getting better.”
XAVIER WATTS, safety
On his performance today: “It’s the first game. I feel like I did some good things, did some bad things. Just continuing to improve each week. Got my feet wet, so just ready to see the improvement each and every week.”
On almost intercepting Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield: “I forgot what call we were running but I had a good read on it, saw where he was throwing it. I didn’t jump high enough. I didn’t get close enough. It was a good throw as well, but I just had a good read on it but didn’t capitalize.”
On the level of intensity the defense is playing with: “All season we instilled our physical mindset, the intensity of this defense, who we are as a defense, our standard. So, we went out there and showed it but we just have to be better.”
LEONARD FLOYD, outside linebacker
On the defense’s aggressiveness: “Yeah, we were very aggressive. We’ve just got to find a way to finish in some of the plays. But overall, yeah, we played with a lot of aggression.”
On rookies James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker’s performance: “I think they did great. They did great to be rookies. As I say, we’ve got to keep going. This is just one game. You’re not looking at this game like it’s the last game of the season.”
On the biggest challenge playing against Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield: “The biggest challenge is, I guess, stopping Baker from being Baker. He kind of got a chance to show Baker towards the end of the fourth quarter. We’ve got to do a better job of closing the game out.”
BIJAN ROBINSON, running back
On what will he remember from today’s game: “Well, first off, I’ve got to give honor to God, just for getting us all healthy. Just going out there playing for him and praising him out there, every chance I get for this team, for this organization. I’ve got to give it credit to Him first. Obviously, we’ve got to do a better job finishing the games and just whenever opportunities are given to us, we’ve got to take advantage of it. No matter what the scheme is, no matter what we call, it starts with us. That run game, that’s the heart of this offense. They did a good job of stopping it. It doesn’t matter if they’re good at it or not, we have to be on our ‘P’s’ and ‘Q’s’, and understand, first off, where I got to fit in and read when it comes to running the ball and just all over the offense. But when opportunities present themselves, we’ve got to take advantage of those.”
On his 50-yard touchdown reception: “That’s just like a trust play with me and Mike [Penix Jr.]. Mike obviously knows if he cannot find anything, I’ll be right there in his vision. He gave me the ball. Mike understands those plays are 50-yard plays. Those are just extended handoffs. And that is exactly what it was. Just made the moves, make the guy get put the work in and take it all the way down. That’s a big trust play for me and him. We made it work, and that was the end result.”
On having a lot of emotional games early on in his career: “We have to put this game behind us right now. Obviously, we’ll watch the film. After that, we have to continue to just focus on Minnesota. Don’t focus on anybody else. Don’t look ahead. Don’t [say], ‘We’ll get them again,’ none of that. We have to focus on the team at hand, and Minnesota’s a great team. So for us, we need to understand what practice is, and we have to have a championship week in preparation. We’re going there, it’s Sunday Night Football. All the lights are on us. We have to be the ones to perform and perform really well so we can get a win next week.”
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.
