FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons coach Arthur Smith addressed the comments from former safety Damontae Kazee about being “kicked out of rehab.”

“This is a tough business,” Smith said Friday. “One thing that (general manager) Terry (Fontenot) and I always do, we talk with everybody. We never lose the human aspect of it in a very tough profession.”

After not being re-signed, Kazee followed former Falcons coach Dan Quinn to Dallas. The Falcons (4-4) are set to face the Cowboys (6-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“The only thing I remember in Atlanta is me getting hurt and me getting kicked out of rehab,” Kazee told the Dallas media on Wednesday. “That is all I remember.”

That didn’t go over well inside of 4400 Falcons Parkway, the address of the Falcons’ headquarters.

“We treat everybody with the utmost respect,” Smith said. “People may not like the decisions that we make. That’s fair. But when you’re talking about how people remember something, certainly we treat every player here, every person that comes through this door that works with us, we treat them with the utmost respect and dignity.”

The hard-hitting Kazee was injured in the second quarter of the fourth game against Green Bay on Oct. 5, 2020. He suffered a torn Achilles and as of March 5, he was rehabbing in the team’s facilities. His contract was set to run out of March 17.

He wanted to return. However, the new regime was moving in another direction at the safety position.

Kazee said the abrupt departure doesn’t provide extra incentive for the upcoming game.

“Nah, nah,” Kazee said. “On to the next. Can’t get mad. That is life. This is a business at the end of the day.”

The Bow Tie Chronicles

For more content about The Atlanta Falcons

Follow me on Twitter @DOrlandoAJC

On Facebook at Atlanta Falcons News Now

Atlanta Falcons coverage on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Falcons’ 2021 schedule features trip to London, January trip to Buffalo

Atlanta Falcons schedule and scores

Eagles 32, Falcons 6

Buccaneers 48, Falcons 25

Falcons 17, Giants 14

Washington 34, Falcons 30

Falcons 27, Jets 20

Bye Week

Falcons 30, Dolphins 28

Panthers 19, Falcons 13

Falcons 27, Saints 25

Next four games

Falcons at Cowboys, 1 p.m. Sunday

Patriots at Falcons, 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18

Falcons at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28

Tampa Bay at Atlanta, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 5