NEW ORLEANS -- Here’s what Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder had to say about the 48-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday:
On when he found out he was starting: “(I) Think it was 10:30 whenever they made it (decision). We went out, did a workout, came back, said that I was going today. I have just been preparing all week as if I am the starter. Obviously that time came.”
On the first interception: “Yes, that’s what we’ve been practicing on, getting our guys the ball and letting them get as many yards as they can. Like I said, we missed some opportunities with those guys making plays, but that was the gameplan.”
On how the season ended: “Obviously it’s not the way anyone would want it to go. But there was a lot of good things to learn from. Both the good and the bad of the season. There are a lot of things that I can go back, learn from, correct, get better at and it is only going to help me in the long run. Things, like I said, didn’t go the way we expected it to go, this season, this game, this year. But I think at the end of the day, we all learned and we all grew and we all got better.”
On what Arthur Smith means to him and if he would like to see him back: “Coach means the world to me. He’s given me every opportunity to go out there and be myself. At the end of the day, that’s the biggest thing is he wants everyone to just be themselves. He’s a great coach, a great guy, and I’m excited for us.”
On the message to the team after the game: “Obviously it’s tough. We didn’t want to end the season that way, but like you said this is a resilient team. We’re a team who never gives up, a team who never quits. Was never out of it. I said there’s plenty of things that we could go back on offense, even special teams out of the entire year to not get us in this situation, not get us in this point that we could be better at.”
On if he wants Arthur Smith to be back: “At the end of the day, yeah. I’d love for coach to be back. I (would) love for everyone to be back on the same team. At the end of the day that is not in my control. That is not on anyone else’s control, coaches control, we don’t control that. We control what we can control and that’s to show up to work every single day and get better.”
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