Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the 19-13 loss to the Panthers on Sunday:
On the result of today’s game: “It was one of those days when you are in a tight game like we were today, you know your possessions are limited, and as a group, we didn’t make enough plays. I had the turnover early in the game where that could have been a different ballgame, too. You come away with points. We didn’t make the play on the third down that you referenced towards the end where we had a chance to get back up, and you’ve got to make those plays. We’ve got to make those plays as a team, and we’ll do that moving forward. We didn’t make them today. Credit to Carolina. I thought they played well. Their defense did a great job and played well and did a better job today.”
On the injury sustained to his left hand: “The hand is fine. It was just a cut.”
On the play of Shaq Thompson and Stephon Gilmore: “I’ve played against Shaq for a long time, and he is a really talented player. He has great size and speed, great instinct. He made a nice play on the interception today. He is a good player. And as well as Gilmore, you know, came in and did a nice job. It’s a good defense. We’ll see them again, but we certainly need to play better football next time we go against them.”
On how the offense changes without Calvin Ridley in the lineup:
“He is a great player, and you try and utilize other guys when he is not up. We still have enough players. We trust the guys that are up on game day to go make plays; and, unfortunately, we just fell short of that today.”
On whether Ridley not playing impacted their ability to go down the field:
“He is a great player. He has the ability to stretch the defense, and he is quick in his cuts. He does a great job versus zone coverage versus man coverage. There again, you have to play with the guys we have available, and, ultimately, as a group, we fell short today.”
On Russell Gage not being targeted:
“Just how the game shakes out sometimes. The call comes in. You try to do your best to identify the defense and what you are going against. To me, guys have to stay patient at certain times. The ball is going to find different guys through the course of the year, and Russ has been a good player for us for a number of years. I anticipate that’s going to be the case moving forward.”
On whether finding out Ridley would miss Sunday’s game and whether it would have made a difference knowing that earlier in the week:
“I’ve been in the league a long time. Until you get to Sunday, there’s a lot of things that can happen, and it’s no different than an injury in any other spot. Sometimes with game-time decisions have you to adjust. It’s part of being a professional and going out there and being ready to go. I don’t think it affected the guys, but certainly [I] wish Calvin all the best. We love him and support him. He is a great friend and a great person. We all support him as he is going through this.”
On Kyle Pitts facing Gilmore
“I thought there was some good and some we could do better. I thought he competed really hard. That’s one of the best defensive players in the game. He has been defensive player of the year. It’s a great learning opportunity for Kyle moving forward, and I think he’ll be better off for going against guys like that. I think that’s where you really learn how to become the best version of yourself.”
On whether he thinks there are things Pitts could have done better today:
“No. You’ve got to watch the tape. I think there’s -- when you are playing, you just move on to the next play. You’re not going back and judging anything on game day. It’s about playing together and going out there and competing as a unit and as a team and finding a way to get the job done. We need to do that.”
On whether the injury to his left hand impacted his first interception:
“No, no. It didn’t affect me. I just -- the fact is that it was a good play (by Shaq Thompson), and I’ve got to be better than that.”
On his statistics in the game:
“I’ve been through worse, unfortunately, but it’s just – it was a low-possession game. They did a good job on the offensive side of the ball for Carolina running the football. Kind of shrinking the clock. We knew going into it if that was the case, then you have to be opportunistic, and you can’t worry about what the stats are. You just have to find a way to get it done. I thought we had chances, and just didn’t make the plays when we needed to, but we certainly were in that football game all the way through it.”
On what the Panthers did to limit the Falcons on first downs:
“They played well. I think that’s part of this league. I tell our young guys all the time, you are a week away from being humbled in this league. There are good players across the board, and some days are like that. You have to have the mental strength to come back tomorrow to get back to work, be honest with what we did well, what we didn’t do well, and make sure that we’re better than what we were today moving forward because we’re going to see good football teams and good defenses as we go through the months of November, December, and January.”
On Tajae Sharpe’s performance:
“I think Tajae has done a good job all year. At different times where he has been asked to go in and make plays, I thought he did that for us today. Made a couple of good plays. I have a lot of confidence in Tajae that he will go in and be a good player for us.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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Next Four Games
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
Falcons at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28
