How Falcons picked up Zachariah Branch after fumbles: ‘Don’t dwell on it’

FLOWERY BRANCH — Zachariah Branch was frustrated, carrying the weight of a muffed punt and a fumbled kickoff with him to the sideline late in the third quarter of the Falcons’ 31-23 loss to the Bears on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Mistakes happen. What happened next to the Falcons’ rookie receiver never had.

Bijan Robinson saw his 22-year-old teammate was down, upset and deterred after a week spent working to prevent miscues led only to a harsh lesson about the razor thin margin for error in the NFL.

Robinson, a 24-year-old team captain, went up to Branch, sensing he needed a leader in that moment. They walked toward the end of the Falcons’ sideline, far away from their normal benches. Then, they talked, they prayed, they refocused.

“In this world we live in, a lot of worldly things can get in your mind, and fans and coaches, like everybody just kind of talking to him,” Robinson said Sunday. “So I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m going to take you to the side. Forget about everybody else.’”

Robinson wanted to make sure Branch was OK mentally and spiritually. Branch, who also received guidance from receiver Drake London, reaffirmed. He caught four passes in the fourth quarter alone — two wiped away by penalties, one for a 4-yard gain, another to complete a two-point conversion — in his largest offensive workload yet.

Branch believes Robinson’s gesture was the first time he’s ever been prayed over after making a mistake during a game.

“I very much respect him and appreciate him for that,” Branch said Monday. “Because he didn’t have to do that in that moment. Obviously, he wanted to talk to me and make sure I was good and everything, but he didn’t have to pray for me and just do those extra things and take the extra mile to be a good teammate for me.

“So that was pretty cool. It just shows his leadership and the maturity level.”

And it wasn’t the only such occurrence of a teammate uplifting Branch. Receiver Jahan Dotson did the same after Branch misjudged a punt late in the first half, a big swing where the Falcons went from having a chance to tie the game to watching the Bears score a touchdown and push their lead to two scores before halftime.

Dotson, a 26-year-old in his fifth NFL season, joked it “might sound crazy,” but he thought about himself at that moment. He put himself in Branch’s shoes, as if he were the one who made the mistake. He can innately relate, because he quite literally does Branch’s job in practice, too.

One of the Falcons’ backup punt returners, Dotson catches punts every day in Flowery Branch. He has full trust in his hands to make every catch. He wanted to make sure Branch still felt the same way about his own mitts.

“I went up to him, just as a brother, ‘Keep full trust in yourself,’” Dotson said Monday. “Because it’s tough, especially as a young player, to deal with things like that. You got coaches coming up to you and blah, blah, blah.

“I just wanted to come up to him, ‘Bro, we’re gonna come to you. It happened, it’s over with. You’re gonna have more opportunities in this game to make a play, and you gotta have a clear mind for that.’ That was just my message to him. Forget it. It happened. It’s over.”

Dotson learned a similar lesson the previous two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, hearing countless times from star wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith that mistakes happen, that he won’t catch every ball, and that while there’s certainly a standard being held, falling short of it “happens to the best of us,” Dotson said.

Dotson knew more opportunities awaited Branch. He also knew how his rookie teammate responded to adversity and flushed the muffed punt would dictate the success of those chances. So, Dotson placed two options in front of Branch: Would he keep thinking about the muffed punt and let it linger? Or would he take the next one 70 yards for a touchdown?

The point Dotson wanted Branch to pick up centered around letting bad plays go in one ear and out the other. His message didn’t do the same.

Between Robinson, London and Dotson — the Falcons’ leading rusher and two leading receivers Sunday — Branch heard a wealth of advice. He processed it, and while Sunday may have been the low point of his rookie season thus far, he left Mercedes-Benz Stadium with more wisdom than he arrived with that morning.

“Not to dwell on certain moments,” Branch said of his biggest takeaway. “We work so hard every single week to go out there and do our best, and especially a game like that when we were losing, too, it definitely was very frustrating just because I hold myself to a high standard. And they know that as well.

“So that’s what they’re pretty much telling me. Like, ‘We know the standard you hold yourself, we know what you’re capable of, but don’t dwell on it too much to where it’ll affect you the rest of the game. We still have a lot of football to play.’”

All told, Branch said the sideline moments with his teammates “definitely helped a lot.” They allowed him to flip his mindset entering the fourth quarter, during which the Falcons trailed 31-7 but scored 16 unanswered in less than seven minutes to make it a one-score game before falling short.

“That’s football at the end of the day,” Branch said. “There is going to be sometimes where some plays don’t go your way, and sometimes they do. But it’s about continuing to go and fight and be resilient throughout the rest of the game. So, I was very proud they called my number a few more times and was able to capitalize on opportunities that I had going forward.”

The Falcons entered Week 6 planning to expand Branch’s role offensively, and the former Georgia standout played a season-high 19 snaps and a season-best 34.5% of snaps on offense Sunday.

Branch didn’t fumble in the first five games, something coach Kevin Stefanski noted after the team’s loss to Chicago. His two miscues Sunday gave the Bears advantageous field position, which ultimately led to an additional 10 points.

Stefanski views it as a learning experience — and it doesn’t change the Falcons’ perspective of their third-round pick.

“Zachariah’s somebody we’re going to be counting on,” Stefanski said. “He’s a conscientious kid. He has to take care of the football. He’s done a nice job up to date. He’s a rookie, he will learn from this, but if you turn the ball over three times versus a good team, it’s going to be really, really hard to win.

“Obviously, giving them field position where we gave them on those plays, it’s going to be even harder to win. We’re counting on him, he’ll be better for this.”

Branch said the Falcons “definitely have” told him they plan to get him more involved in the weeks ahead. Perhaps that means more touches, or more special teams snaps, or blocking, or going in motion. He’s not entirely sure, but he’s willing to do all of it, so long as the Falcons win games.

And the team certainly believes Branch, better off from Sunday’s mishaps, will be part of their winning formula moving forward.