(Here’s our weekly nine items at 9 a.m. Wednesday on the Atlanta Falcons, otherwise known as the Cover 9@9 blog!)
1. The no-spin zone. Falcons coach Arthur Smith didn’t sugarcoat things when asked about wide receiver Calvin Ridley’s performance Sunday against the Washington Football Team.
It was in stark contrast to when he was asked about Ridley not going up field to possibly make a third-down conversion in New York against the Giants. He let him have the freedom to work in space.
Ridley was targeted 13 times against Washington in the 34-30 loss Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Ridley caught seven passes for 80 yards. Ridley had a couple of dropped passes and a couple that were knocked away by the defense. He didn’t appear particularly comfortable running across the middle of the field early in the game.
“Up and down,” Smith said Monday when asked how Ridley played in the game. “We expect more, and Calvin knows that. I’m not telling you anything I don’t tell the players. … He’s one of our top guys. He’s one of our captains. ... Nobody has higher expectations than he does for himself than we do. That’s why I call his number. I believe in Calvin. I called it, we can all play better.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / curtis.compton@ajc.com
Credit: Curtis Compton / curtis.compton@ajc.com
Also, wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus had a dropped pass against Washington.
Ridley has caught 27 of 42 targets (64.2%) for 255 yards and one touchdown.
While Ridley has not had an 100-yard receiving game this season, he’s on pace to catch 114 passes and 1,445 yards and four touchdowns over 17 games.
“I have to see it, you know,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said when asked if he thought Ridley had a couple of dropped passes. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t see a lot of those things when we’re playing. There’s a lot of traffic and stuff flying in front of your face.
“So you have to watch the film and take a look at it. I know he makes a lot of plays, too, and does some great things for us. So, I’ll have to take a look at it on the film. But I don’t really see those things on the field. So I can’t really answer it.”
Ryan is not worried about the team’s mind-set.
“I just think that having been around long enough, you want to get in front of things,” Ryan said. “And you want to be proactive as opposed to being reactive. And I think from a leadership position and a veteran guy in the locker room, that’s what I want to be, proactive, you know, and let those guys know (Monday) we (must) get to work. We (must) fix the things that we can fix and be better next week. We got 13 games to go. So, a lot can happen during that time. I think the effort’s been great. I think the attention to detail is something we can improve at.”
2. Where’s Richie Grant? Falcons second-round pick Richie Grant has been contributing on defense while he’s learning the defense. If Erik Harris, who left the game against Washington with a calf injury, misses some time, the Falcons will need to speed up Grant’s learning process.
Jaylinn Hawkins went in for Harris, but the Falcons also lost nickel back Isaiah Oliver, who is out for the season.
Veteran Duron Harmon has some advice for Grant.
“It’s a journey,” Harmon said. “It’s a long journey. There are plenty of guys who started their careers without being a starter right away. But what are you going to do to progress to when your time comes so that you’ll be fully prepared for that moment.”
Harmon, who was drafted in the third round in 2013, started just three games his rookie season.
“I just try to keep talking to him and working with him after practice,” Harmon said. “He sits right behind me in the meetings. He’s always asking questions. He’s a smart, bright kid.”
Grant remains upbeat.
“The future is really bright for him, but right now, he’s still trying to perfect his role,” Harmon said. “The coaches give us roles each and every week. The faster he embraces his role, the more responsibilities he will get. It’s on him.
“It’s on him to keep getting better. It’s on him to keep learning. It’s on him to keep learning from different situations so that he can retain all of this information, (from) all of these different situations so when his time comes, he’ll be fully prepared.”
3. Vote for Coach of the Week: The candidates this week are Creekside’s Maurice Dixon, Villa Rica’s Tim Barron and Towns County’s Jason Roquemore. Click here to vote.
The NFL and the Falcons will recognize 10 head high school varsity tackle and girls flag football coaches across the states of Georgia and Alabama throughout the 2021 season with the Coach of the Week award, presented by the AJC, for their work in making a difference in student-athletes lives on-and-off the field.
4. Series history: Sunday’s game against the Jets in London will be the 13th meeting between the Falcons and the Jets. The Falcons lead the series 7-5 and won the last game 25-20 on Oct. 29, 2017 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
5. Checkdown Charlie he’s not: Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson, who was selected No. 2 overall in the NFL draft, led the Jets to a stunning 27-24 overtime victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Wilson dazzled Jets fans by tossing touchdown passes while on the run, and the defense, led by four-time Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley, racked up seven sacks in the victory.
“We say this thing about boring football, but we’re not looking for Charlie Checkdown,” Saleh said of Wilson to the New York media Monday. “We still want to be aggressive and be smart with the ball.”
After not seeing a safety deep, Wilson tossed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Corey Davis after waving him to go down the field. Wilson ability to create plays may cause the Falcons trouble. The Falcons had issues containing Washington’s Taylor Heinicke’s playmaking ability in the 34-30 loss Sunday.
But it’s the simpler plays that Saleh wants to see the rookie make more often.
“What gets lost in the excitement of big plays is that seven of his completions were for fewer than 7 yards,” Saleh said. “There was even more to be had. The missed third-down pass to Corey and Griff (Ryan Griffin) that could have closed out the game. Everyone saw his creativity and off-schedule game. That represents a small part. His head was in the right spot.”
Credit: Seth Wenig
Credit: Seth Wenig
6. Wilson’s stats: Wilson, who played at Brigham Young, has completed 79 of 139 passes (56.8%) for 925 yards, four touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has a passer rating of 62.8.
Davis, formerly of the Titans, is the Jets’ top receiver with 16 catches for 257 yards and three touchdowns. Braxton Berrios has 15 catches for 150 yards. Keelan Cole has five for 122 yards.
The wide receiver group regained Jamison Crowder, who missed the first three games with a groin injury. He had seven catches for 61 yards in the win over the Titans.
Rookie Michael Carter, who was drafted in the fourth round out of North Carolina, is the Jets’ leading rusher. He has 37 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown.
7. Mosley is back: Mosley, who elected to opt out of last season during the coronavirus pandemic, led the Jets with 13 tackles against the Titans.
“You know he’s phenomenal,” Saleh said. “He did something I’ve never had a (linebacker) do in our system. If you listen to the TV copy, he was demonstrative, like he’s changing a play -- which he was, which we don’t do. He saw something he didn’t like. The coaches were like ‘what is he doing?’ He got us into the perfect play call and we got a sack.”
8. Injury report: Oliver suffer a serious knee injury during the second quarter of the 34-30 loss to the Washington Football Team on Sunday and was ruled out for the season Tuesday.
Also, Harris (calf) and punter Cameron Nizialek (right hamstring) were injured and did not return to the game. Nizialek was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. Kicker Younghoe Koo finished the game as a punter. The Falcons signed punter Dustin Colquitt from their practice squad to the 53-man roster.
Washington running back J.D. McKissic laid a hard block on Oliver, who was blitzing from the slot. He left the field on a cart.
Defensive tackle Marlon Davidson (ankle) and wide receiver Russell Gage (ankle) were out against Washington. Gage is farther along in his recovery and could return for the Jets’ game in London.
9. Depth chart: Here’s the Falcons’ official depth heading into the game against the New York Jets on Sunday in London:
OFFENSE
WR - Calvin Ridley, Tajae Sharpe or Christian Blake
TE - Kyle Pitts, Lee Smith
LT - Jake Matthews, Jason Spriggs
LG - Jaylen Mayfield, Drew Dalman, Colby Gossett
C - Matt Hennessy, Drew Dalman
RG - Chris Lindstrom, Drew Dalman
RT - Kaleb McGary, Jason Spriggs
TE - Hayden Hurst, Keith Smith, Parker Hesse
WR - Russell Gage, Olamide Zaccheaus, Frank Darby
RB - Mike Davis, Cordarrelle Patterson, Wayne Gallman
*FB -- Keith Smith, Cordarrelle Patterson (Added to reflect that they played the position in the opener.)
QB - Matt Ryan, Josh Rosen, Feleipe Franks
DEFENSE
DL - Grady Jarrett, Marlon Davidson
NT - Tyeler Davison, Ta’Quon Graham, Mike Pennel
DL - Jonathan Bullard, John Cominsky
OLB - Steven Means, Jacob Tuioti-Mariner or Brandon Copeland
ILB - Deion Jones, Mykal Walker
ILB - Foyesade Oluokun, Dorian Etheridge
OLB – Dante Fowler, Adetokunbo Ogundeji
LCB - A.J. Terrell, T.J. Green, Avery Williams or Darren Hall
NC – Avery Williams
FS - Erik Harris, Jaylinn Hawkins
SS - Duron Harmon, Richie Grant
RCB - Fabian Moreau, Kendall Sheffield
SPECIAL TEAMS
K - Younghoe Koo
P – Dustin Colquitt
LS - Josh Harris
H – Dustin Colquitt
PR - Avery Williams
KOR - Cordarrelle Patterson
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Falcons’ 2021 schedule features trip to London, January trip to Buffalo
Atlanta Falcons Schedule
New York Jets vs. Falcons in London, Oct. 10 at 9:30 a.m.
Bye Week
Falcons at Miami Dolphins, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.
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