Taylor Heinicke looking to breathe life into Falcons’ stagnant offense

The Falcons had planned to stick with Desmond Ridder for the rest of the season, but his turnovers proved to be too costly.

“The plan was to let him finish out the season,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “That’s what the plan was. You have to be willing to adapt. That’s what we planned, and I didn’t want to keep doing, switching from week to week, half to half. That’s not what we want to do.

“We feel that, where we are at, Taylor gives us the best chance. You have to adapt. So that’s where we are going to go.”

Heinicke, who played at Collins Hill High and Old Dominion, is set to take over for Ridder. He came on in relief of Ridder in the eighth game of the season against Tennessee. He started the next two games against the Vikings and Cardinals.

Ridder was reinstated as the starter after the bye week and won games against the Saints and Jets. However, the Falcons lost to the Bucs and the Panthers.

Ridder, who has 16 turnovers, tossed an ill-advised pass Sunday that was intercepted by Carolina’s Xavier Woods. The Panthers then went on a 17-play, 90-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard field goal at the buzzer for the 9-7 win.

Smith made the move to Heinicke on Monday.

“Nothing has really changed,” Heinicke said. “Kind of the same thing as before. I’ll be coming in every day, work together and try and get each other better.”

Ridder will continue to lead the off-day meetings of the offensive players Tuesday.

“If he misses something up there, I’ll try and say something,” Heinicke said. “We have a really good relationship, and he’s been helping me out this week so far.”

Heinicke doesn’t want to upset their routine and take over the meetings.

“Again, he’s been doing a good job all year,” Heinicke said. “We’ve been getting a lot out of the meetings. I don’t want to have a hiccup here or there. I’m just letting him keep going. If he skips over something, I’ve studied or I’ve seen, I’ll chime in and say something. Those meetings go very smoothly. I don’t see any reason to kind of switch it up.”

The Falcons’ offense has not clicked all season.

The Falcons rank ninth in rushing per game (126.4 yards per game) in the NFL, but are in the bottom half of the league in total yards (19th), passing yards (200.8) and points 18.4 (tied 27th).

“Again, we just want to put four quarters together and have a really clean game,” Heinicke said.

Heinicke played the past three seasons with the Commanders. He also has spent time with the Vikings, Patriots, Texans and Panthers. He’s played in 36 NFL games and made 27 starts.

Heinicke has a 12-14-1 record as a starter.

Heinicke signed with the Falcons with the understanding that he would be Ridder’s backup. He has been in a similar role throughout his NFL career.

“When my number is called, I got out there, and I’m the starter,” Heinicke said. “I do the same thing when I’m a backup. I go and talk to guys if I see something. When Des is playing, if a receiver runs the wrong route or if they are confused about something, I’ll go talk to them. It’s the same thing as a starter, I just think it’s a different person playing.”

Heinicke plans to not change his approach.

“When you can have fun out there, especially when stuff is going bad, make sure that people realize it’s a game,” Heinicke said. “It’s supposed to be fun. I know it’s your job, but this game is meant to be fun. I think that kind of radiates towards people. Gets the stress off, kind of let’s you just go out there and play, play loose.”

Heinicke knows the Falcons likely need to win-out to qualify for the playoffs.

“I have a lot of confidence in my game,” Heinicke said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. If someone told me you’d be in your eighth year in the league … if they told me that as a rookie, I would have took it in a heartbeat. The fact that I’m still here, I feel like I am doing something right.”

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