NEW ORLEANS — Here is what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after the 21-18 loss to the Saints on Sunday:
On Dean Pees: “Thankfully, Dean is back with us. He’s all right. Obviously, that was a scary moment in pregame and seeing him get on the board and carted off. Certainly, the defensive staff, Frank Bush and those guys rallied. Thankfully, Dean is all right.”
On the fumble: “It was fourth-and-5, I decided to go for it. (We had) three timeouts. If we didn’t get it, we can hold them to a field goal and still have a chance to win it with (a touchdown). We felt good about it. But the game went on, Des (Desmond Ridder) settled down. He delivered the ball to Drake (London). We’ve got to do a better job of ball security. They made a play and popped it out. We have to do a better job there. We had a chance to go in there and win the game or at least tie it.”
On Ridder: “I thought he was amped up early. We were aggressive early. ... I thought he was pressing. But he did a nice job settling down. There was going to be something that he was going to have to fight through. He’s not scared of the moment. He’s poised. I like what he’s made up of. That says a lot about him as we finished the game, we were able to run the ball really well, which took some stress off the passing game.”
More on the fumble: “We have to do a better job of ball security at the end.”
On if the defense was unsettled early: “I don’t know it if was unsettled. We were pretty sure that he was OK. ... We were doing a decent job of stopping the run. They made a few plays against some of the zones. I think Frank and the staff did a good job of adjusting. They hit the shot play. They were driving, and the defense bowed up and got the ball out. We were able to stay in it.”
On what he said to the team: “We called them up at the end of warmups; we said our prayers for (defensive coordinator Dean Pees, who was injured). Tried to update them and be honest about the situation. Everybody in the stadium saw it. It was a scary moment for him. Thankfully, the Saints doctors and our doctors did a helluva job. Got him evaluated and will continue to monitor him.”
On how the team responded to Ridder: “It was good. It was a great learning experience to play the Saints with a veteran defense. It certainly didn’t go well early. To his credit, he settled down and the team settled down and continued to rally around him.”
On the performance of Tyler Allgeier: “I’ve seen a player that’s smart and hard to tackle. You feel that he’s another volume guy that the game goes off him. Most guys don’t like tackling him.”
On how serious Caleb Huntley’s ankle injury is: “That is something lower body, but we are awaiting an MRI. It didn’t look good.”
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Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT
Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17
Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15
Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24
Nov. 27 Commanders 19, Falcons 13
Dec. 4 Steelers 19, Falcons 16
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 Saints 21, Falcons 18
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
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