NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Falcons coach Arthur Smith has to make a decision soon that will be the biggest of his young head coaching career.
But before he makes the call, he’s looking for clarity on Desmond Ridder’s health.
The Falcons’ starting quarterback was checked for a concussion and cleared in the 28-23 loss to the Titans on Sunday in Nashville. While out of the game, backup Taylor Heinicke came in and got the offensive moving. After Ridder was cleared to return to the game in the third quarter, Smith stayed with Heinicke.
“Looked at how the game (was) going,” Smith said. “Maybe, I felt like a baseball manager at the time, you can’t pull a pitcher and put one back in. That’s the way it was going with Taylor. The way that I felt what had happened in the first half, that was the best decision for the team at that moment.”
Heinicke rallied the offense and Ridder still has some follow concussions protocols.
In the meantime, the Falcons, who dropped to 4-4, must start preparing to face the Vikings at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Here are five things we learned from the loss to the Titans:
1. Health concerns vs. hot hand: Smith factored in his concern for Ridder’s health along with Heinicke’s hot hand.
“It was both,” Smith said. “(There) was a reason he came out. My concern is about the player. The health can affect performance.”
Smith had held some players out after they’ve been cleared to return from the concussion protocol.
“The guys who were checked for concussions will be further evaluated, whether if they are cleared or not,” Smith said. “They will continue to test them. Make sure they do everything that they can. Health and safety of those is paramount for those guys.”
2. Wide receiver room: Leading receiver Drake London, who has 37 catches for 438 yards and two touchdowns, left the game with a groin injury after he laid out and made a nice catch for a 21-yard gain with 4:07 left in the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 55 yards and did not return.
“Drake, I don’t have an official timeline,” Smith said. “It wasn’t as bad as we thought. It will be some positive news there with Drake. That’s kind of where we are at.”
The team’s backup receivers stepped up with London out.
“We’re going to move Mack (Hollins) over here,” Smith said. “You have those plans during the week. That’s why you have players like Hollins, (KhaDarel) Hodge and Scotty (Miller). Van (Jefferson) just got here and Van had to play a lot....Credit to those guys, they stepped up.”
Hodge had a 52-yard gain and Miller caught a touchdown pass.
“It felt good,” said Hodge, who led the Falcons in receiving yards with 75 on three catches. “Take advantage of every opportunity that you get regardless of the circumstances. It’s always prayers up to my guy Drake. Get healthy soon.”
3. The big decision: After hearing from the medical staff, Smith plans to make his quarterback decision by Wednesday. That’s when the Falcons will start preparing for the Vikings.
“Our No. 1 concern is Des,” Smith said. “There is a reason they went to look at him. You are talking about health-first when something is off and you have a reason to look at him….You have to do what’s best for the team.”
Heinicke was signed in the March and received a two-year contract worth up to $20 million.
“Taylor came in there and did a nice job,” Smith said. “For the next 24 hours, I have to listen to the medical experts first and then we have to evaluate short-term what’s best for Des, what’s best for this team to win one game against Minnesota.”
4. Fixing field position: The Falcons’ drive starts for Ridder in the first have were horrible after the opening drive, which started at the Titans’ 29-yard line after Calais Campbell recovered Malik Willis’ fumbled shotgun snap.
The rest of the first-half possessions started at the 15, 24, 7, 7, 13, 12 and 8.
Mike Hughes fielded one punt at the 1-yard line and returned it 6 yards. He may have lost the punt returner job.
“We have to tweak something,” Smith said. “Coach something different, we’ll do that. How we are making decisions back there. Making sure that we are doing the right things. If that’s changing the personnel or changing scheme, you can’t do that.”
The Titans planned to bleed the clock by using running back Derrick Henry and the Falcons couldn’t counter from the deep holes they were starting from.
“Credit to Tennessee,” Smith said. “I don’t think it was any secret on how they were going to come in there and play that game. We had a chance early. Didn’t take advantage of it. We did get points and then the rest of the half, we were really backed up. We’ve got to do a better job with that.”
5. Getting the reps: Smith doesn’t plan to play quarterback roulette and try to keep Minnesota guessing about the quarterback.
“I’m not going go sit here and play games because who ever is going to play this week to help us beat Minnesota has to get the reps,” Smith said. “That’s what we’ll do. I won’t play any games on Wednesday. There is a lot that we still need to consider as I continue to check in with Des and then the medical experts.”
