Here’s what the Falcons were saying after the 28-14 win over the 49ers on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:
Grady Jarrett, defensive end/tackle
On how well the defense played this game: “Definitely playing well, man. It was awesome to get a shutout in the second half. You know, played good against the run, I think they only had 40-, 50-something rushing yards against one of the top rushing teams in the league, so I’m definitely happy about that. Still, some improving to do out there, but I am definitely proud of the guys; we are just excited to get back to work.”
On the belief in the locker room: “We believed in ourselves since the beginning of OTAs. It was something we talked about all offseason. I just felt the camaraderie was there, and I just knew, the pieces that we had were different from years past. I believe in this group. We believe in ourselves. We think our best football is still ahead of us. I think that’s what’s so encouraging. Just staying focused on what we can control and the people in our building.”
On Rashaan Evans’ presence: “Somebody that I was super, super excited to have as an addition to our team. Talked about it in training camp. Stepped up big for us today with Myk (Mykal Walker) out. He and Troy (Andersen) did a great job today along with all the other guys who stepped in today. He did a great job, man, commanding the defense, and getting us the call in time. So, I’m super, super excited for him to continue to grow and make some big plays, which he’s been making for us all year. It’s good to see him get some recognition for it, and I’m sure he’s going to continue pushing to be better.”
On keeping San Francisco one-dimensional: “Definitely wanted to stop the run. The run plays into the pass and being able to get their big playmakers some one-on-ones on the outside if we don’t stop that run. I think it was a good team effort from everybody across the board. Even when they got to the edges, the DBs coming down and chopping some of the guys down cause they got a heck of athletes over there, and guys can make some big plays. We knew it was going to take a heck of an effort from us, and we got it done.”
A.J. Terrell, cornerback
On what he thought the defense did to perform well in the game: “Just go out there and just play good football. Trusting our assignments and doing what we had to do. Winning in situational football, getting turnovers, putting the ball in the offense’s hands, and letting them go out there and do what they gotta do.”
On how this win gives the team confidence going forward: “Just like I said, always taking it one week at a time just trying to go 1-0. Focusing on the next opponent, not complacent, not feeling ourselves, just going out there each weekend, dominating throughout the whole week with preparation.”
On the injury to his hamstring: “It’s good, it’s good.”
On potentially going back in the game after suffering the hamstring injury: “Just going with my gut, just being able to play it safe a little bit.”
Caleb Huntley, running back
On whether the running back room cares who’s touching the ball: “As long as we get the dub. That’s our motto. We don’t care who gets the ball. As long as we’re progressing.”
On what QB Marcus Mariota is like in the heat of the moment: “He’s calm. Some guys panic, Marcus is always calm, always focused, and he’s a leader. He knows how to get the win. He knows how to do things to get the job done, so we all believe in him.”
On the offensive line continuing to block well: “They’re just a great group of guys. They work harder than pretty much anybody I know. They do a good job of doing what their coach tells them to do and getting into the bodies of defenders to allow us to get behind them and push the ball.”
Jaylinn Hawkins, safety
On his interaction with Terrell after receiving the defensive touchdown on Terrell’s fumble recovery returned for 21 yards: “I was like, ‘Bro, that’s your touchdown.’ You know what I’m saying, like that was your turn. I mean, at the end of the day, I always got my dawg’s back, so it’s all good.”
On CB Darren Hall getting a pass breakup: “Man, shoutout to D Hall for reading the quarterback’s eyes the whole time. He was looking over there. I broke high, went to the corner and ended up going low, seeing Darren out there got a hand on the ball. Went out there, used my ball skills, and made a play on the ball.”
On his thought about this defensive unit: “Man, everybody just works hard; that’s the thing about our team. Like everybody goes to practice, we (are) out there and are executing. We work to get better no matter who it is. We are all close as a union, that’s the cool thing. That’s the thing I love about our group is we all jam together, hang out together outside of football, always in the group chats making jokes and stuff like that in the meeting rooms like, you know. So, we all got each other’s back, and that’s the main thing. No matter who it is out there on the field we’re all going to play for one another.”
Kyle Pitts, tight end
On his first touchdown of the season and how it felt doing it in front of the home fans: “Oh, I think being in Atlanta was the best part about it, and obviously scoring, but it was a great feeling.”
On his Dirty Bird touchdown celebration: “It was just instinct; I thought about it last second.”
On how scoring a touchdown at home made him feel: “Just knowing the feeling. It makes me want to grind harder and keep competing.”
On his thoughts about this win: “This is a good win. Got to go back to work tomorrow.”
On not getting too far ahead of himself: “It’s a 17-game season. If we want to play more than 17, we’ve got to keep winning. So, we just take this one, party today, and then we’ll be back to work tomorrow.”
On Mariota being a genuine leader: “I would say the same thing. He’s just a genuine person, so you know when he’s talking to you and being the leader around different guys, different position groups, it’s not like him talking at you, it’s talking to you, that’s what I feel makes him such a great leader.”
On seeing Mariota take off on the field: “Oh, man, it’s like his old days at Oregon. It’s great seeing him run.”
Rashaan Evans, linebacker
On the confidence level of the team: “I would say right now, I think mentally, we’re in a good space. We always feel like we can do even better. Even from these three games, we feel like we can be even better than what we were today. It was a good win, we got to have a short memory and be ready and get ready for next week. Overall, I’m just happy for the defense and the offense, I feel like we’ve hit on all cylinders, even a little bit on the special teams. So, there’s always room for improvement, always.”
On the team staying focused and not allowing confidence to turn into ego: “You can’t get too hyped up about winning just three games at this point. I mean, even if we had to go to the playoffs, three wins is not going to get you in the playoffs. So, at the end of the day for us, we got to stay focused and keep doing what we’re doing. The number one thing is to stay consistent. We don’t want to have highs and lows; we want to stay high the whole time. So, I think the leaders are doing a really good job of just emphasizing that we’ve still got to stay focused and know that we got to play ball like this for the rest of the season.”
On this team having a complete game from start to finish: “So far, I feel like this was one of the most complete games. There’s always room for improvement. We’re not satisfied; we’re not too hyped about just winning three games. We know we can win even more games. I think the leaders in this locker room have emphasized multiple times that even when we come out with this win, we’ve got to get ready for the next week because we know we got to play another great team.”
On Coach Smith’s message after the game to the team: “He was just happy for us. At the end of the day, you still want to celebrate a win, it’s hard enough to win three games in the NFL. Everybody is good, nobody is bad, so for us, we will enjoy this for the night and then tomorrow, we’ve got to get back moving.”
On everyone having a role in the game: “Even the guys that are not on the field starting, they know that their role is to be able to fill in and not have any drop-off. At the end of the day, man, hopefully, the guys that did get hurt are able to kind of get back for next week. Overall, man, I’m just happy for the guys that came in and did their thing. I feel like overall on a bigger scale, everybody came and did their job.”
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Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
