Falcons’ Foye Oluokun: ‘It was like red-zone 7-on-7′

On Kyle Pitts’ performance, how difficult it is to go up against him: “Definitely a lot of matchup problems — we’ve got Kyle, we’ve got Hayden (Hurst), CP (Cordarrelle Patterson.) You kind of get into big personnel technically and start putting them out with their speed and their abilities and start making matchup problems all over the field. I think that’s what they do, so Kyle was able to take advantage of maybe a smaller guy on him, a slower guy on him, and work that one-on-one and get open. So it’s definitely very fun to see. I think there’s a lot more talent to reach and potential to reach, and I’m happy for him and think the sky’s the limit like I said earlier in the year.”

On getting through tough, gritty games: “That’s how I grew up playing football, you’ve got to be gritty, not pretty. It’s very Xs and Os and they (Detroit) have a professional football team, too, so they have Xs and Os and a lot of times, you’ve got to get your way through problems and get your way to the football and make plays on the ball when it’s time to be made. In a kind of ugly game, you’ve got to find a way to be victorious.”

On getting first win at home: “That was cool. That was cool to have your own fans cheering for you, but at the end of the day, it’s definitely an emotional thing to keep riding into next week, staying positive and trying to get another win.”

KYLE PITTS

On what it means to him that he passed Tony Gonzalez: “It means a lot to me because I personally think that he is the best ever. He’s someone that I’ve always watched to it feels great.”

On how he found out that he broke a record: “I found out at the end of the game. It was pretty exciting. I feel like I’m going through a lot pretty fast and the coach has been helping me along the way as well as Matt to achieve more goals.”

On if he sees things easier now: “Easier wouldn’t be the word, but better. Each week gets better in my opinion. I can identify things faster, play faster, and get up faster.”

On breaking the record, did he have that number in his head: “When I first came out, someone told me about it, but I never thought about it like that. When I was in college, I was just content with what I was doing but I always strive to be the best.”

CHRIS LINDSTROM

On adjustments the offensive line made after three sacks in the opening possession: “We definitely needed to do better, but you just gotta keep your head down and just keep grinding and not ride the waves of the game. It’s not the way that you want to start a game, and we know we need to be better on things, but in the moment you can’t get down on yourself. You have to communicate with each other and respond, and I thought we did a good job about communicating the rest of the way out.”

On the Lions’ defense focusing on Cordarrelle Patterson: “I’m not sure about that. I just know Cordarrelle is an explosive player. He’s a great teammate and all of those guys really, we love blocking for them and trying to give them opportunities to make plays and that’s your job, really, as an offensive lineman is just make sure everybody’s assignment sound and those guys can go out there and be as explosive as they are.”

On emotions after Russell Gage’s fumble, the pressure that was put on the defense: “You know, as an offense, you go into those four-minute situations and you want to put the game away. That’s something that we’re responsible for as an offense, but things happen, adversity strikes and it’s how you’re going to overcome it as a team. (I had) 100% confidence in the defense that those guys were going to go out there and make the play and they did. You’re grateful for them and have full confidence in them, but as an offensive guy, you don’t want to put those guys in that situation. But again, when adversity strikes, those guys rose to the occasion.”

On the team being 7-2 with one-possession games prior to kickoff, the importance of situational play: “I just think there’s a standard of which things need to be and situational football is something that we practice every single day, and we try to be great at and try to win. And it’s not always perfect, but I think there’s a confidence in each other and a belief in this team that any time we go out there and we can win, the expectation is that we’re gonna win and nothing else is good enough. With that mindset, there’s great chemistry within our team as well. There’s guys pushing for each other, happy for each other when a guy makes a play, they’re celebrating everywhere, picking guys up and I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”

On the support he’s received from the team the past two weeks, following the passing of his mother Dawn Lindstrom: “It’s been crazy, but I’m very grateful to play for an organization and for Mr. (Arthur) Blank and Coach (Arthur) Smith, and for Coach (Dann) Quinn when my mom was diagnosed, to be able to send me home. And I was able to be with her the last couple weeks, and I was there Tuesday when she passed with my whole family. (I’m) just very grateful to be a part of an organization where I was able to go home and have those moments with her, and I’m just really, really appreciative and my whole family is to this organization and all the outreach that we’ve received from the people of Atlanta and throughout — just really, really grateful.”

BRANDON COPELAND

On what this win means to them: “It means that we still got a chance and that’s the most important thing in the world right. Like my grandad says you got a chance and that’s the most important thing.”

On what went through his mind as Foye gets that interception at the end: “A great rush. Foye got hands you know, he’s my brother. It was awesome, the whole sideline got into it and it was just a good way to seal the game.”

On what has been the key throughout this season: “Belief. You know, I think belief and conditioning. No matter what people think outside the building, we won those games because we believe in each other.”

On Kyle Pitts: “Kyle, that’s my guy. He’s amazing man and to see what he is doing as a rookie and continuing to stay humble doesn’t surprise me. It’s great to see him have that success. The beautiful thing about college is that he’s young, he’s hungry, and humble. The success he’s having is because he has worked his tail off so it’s beautiful to see him doing it.”

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