FLOWERY BRANCH -- Statistics don’t tell the havoc that Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett has been wreaking this season in the team’s new 3-4 alignment.
He’s come up with big plays in wins over the Jets and Dolphins. Jarrett has started all six games and has 17 tackles (15 solo) a sack and one tackle for loss and five quarterback hits.
It was Jarrett who was draped all over Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa when he tossed up an interception to linebacker Foye Oluokun in the 30-28 win Sunday.
Here’s what Jarrett had to say Thursday about his play:
On the state of defense after the Miami win: “Feeling good and healthy after Miami, missing (Dante) Fowler, but hopefully he’s getting better. As a unit, we are feeling good. I’m excited to get better. Going against the Panthers this week. Highly competitive unit, division play. We all know how that goes. Excited to get back it.”
On Foye Oluokun giving him credit for his interception: “It was a good play. Nice pass-rush move, beat him inside. Set him up for an outside move, came at inside. He just threw the ball up, and Foye made a great play and took it back to put the offense in position to score. Hopefully we’ll continue to get to that quarterback and get him to the ground.”
On affecting the quarterback: “You definitely, want to take pride in your work. And at the end of the day, whether the stats were accounted or not, I know how I affect the game. And that’s what’s important to me. Obviously, as a competitor, you want like stats and stuff to go up. But I mean, for me, the biggest thing is watching that film and seeing how you affect the game. It could be stats all day or not, depending on the game, vice versa or both. At the end of the day, whatever will happen will take care of itself, but I’m just trying to affect the game the best way I can.”
On if the defense is building up confidence over the past three weeks: “You know, it’s been good just to get some wins going. Whenever you go into division play, you want to be at your top. Even the games that we lost, we felt like we were competitive in. So, I think we don’t prepare to lose games. It always feel good to win. We want to continue to build on it. Each week is respecting preparation that you can be ready for game day and have success. It’s been good to feel good and get o this roll, but at the end of the day, yesterday’s victory doesn’t count for tomorrow. We have to keep going, keep working, day in and day out and try to continue to stack it up.”
On having a coordinated rush against the Panthers, who gave up six sacks and 10 QB hits last week: “We definitely want to work together. But last week doesn’t matter this week. I’m saying whether they gave six sacks, they are pros, too. They are going to make the adjustments that they need to make. They are highly competitive guys. They are not want to go out there and put a bad performance out there. We are not going to want to put a bad performance out there. So at the end of the day, we kind of developing our game plan going into the game. We are giving each team and these players the respect they deserve and let the rest take care of itself.”
On his assessment of Carolina’s line: “They play multiple guys across the line, they’re highly competitive. They like to run the ball play. They play with some good tempo. Also, they put the quarterback in position to make some nice plays with his arm. He’s mobile as well. So, we’ve got to be disciplined. It’s a highly competitive team with a lot of pride that’s wants to do well.”
On Deion Jones being named defensive player of the week: “That’s big for him and that’s big for the team. He’ll be the first to tell you that he’s balling out. It’s a team effort, but a great individual effort by Deion. I’m happy to see it personally and as a friend. I definitely hope that he continues to stack on. That is definitely a good feeling to get that player of the week honor.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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Atlanta Falcons Schedule
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Next Four Games
Panthers at Falcons, 1 p.m., Sunday, October 31
Falcons at Saints, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 7
Falcons at Cowboys, 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14
Patriots at Falcons, 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18
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