Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 24-10 win over the Panthers:
JESSIE BATES III, Safety
On how he baited Bryce Young: “I feel like I had a good feel for what they wanted to do today, (knowing) that they had to get him comfortable. They wanted to get the ball out quick. Keep the ball inside the hashes. So yeah, I kind of took advantage of that today.”
On his first game: “I remember playing my first game. I can only imagine what it’s like for a quarterback playing his first game. That’s a lot of pressure. You want to get in a rhythm and get that feel and, honestly, I feel like we had a good jump on him today.”
More on Bryce Young: “I’m sure he’ll be a really good quarterback in this league, but today we got the best of him.”
On what does week 1 do for swagger: “It definitely lets this team know that it’s possible. It’s possible that the work we put in pays off. For us to go out in Week 1 and get that first one out of the way, it’s huge. But we are going to celeberate tonight and next week we’ve got to go right back to work.”
On the message to young guys: “It’s a one-week season. This city deserves it. This team deserves it. But the biggest thing is we can celebrate tonight, we can do whatever we want, and then tomorrow when we get back in there, we watch the film, review. We’ll have an on off day and then reset and try to go 1-0 again. That’s the way this league goes. Some of these younger guys in here, in college you have warmup games, getting into it, but every week it’s going to be one-score games going into the fourth quarter. It’s hard to do week in and week out. Teams that are successful do that. I think we are more than capable of doing that.”
BIJAN ROBINSON, Running back
On getting the win: “It was awesome. It was just such a blessing that God gave me the opportunity to come out here and win the game. I play for him. He blessed us to come out here and get the win. It was super fun to be apart of that.”
On his TD catch and run: We practice it every single day. In drills and the team segment. It’s like we get the ball out, and our coach throws out a bag and you have to make a quick move right away.
On pulling out a tough win just like Texas did over Alabama: “Just seeing Texas with how they pulled it out last night with that grit and that fight, that’s how it needs to be. For us, we came in here today with that same mindset, just playing together as a team. We couldn’t let any adversity get in between us. That’s what happened. We came out there, we fought, executed and got the win.”
On him and Allgeier playoff of one another: Absolutely, that’s what we do in practice. That what we wanted to do in the game. We’ve been training to do that. It was just so much fun being a catalyst off of him and him being the same way off of me. It was good moment for the both of us. Especially doing more in the pass game, too. Getting those catches out of the backfield and the slot and receiver. It was fun to be a part of it and I’m just glad we got the win off of it.
TYLER ALLGEIER, running back
On the combination of Allgeier and Robinson: “It was just me and him feeding off of each other. He would make a good play, then I’d got to make a good play. We were just executing between the both of us. Whenver we got our number called, we were just executing. I think bot of us did that today.”
On his first TD run that he had to bounce outside: “That one was crazy. Great blocking between the Keith and the (offensive) line blocking down and then just me being able to bounce it. The hole was there and I ended up bouncing it and ended up scoring. It was great team effort.”
On having a lead in the fourth quarter after a lot of one-score games last season: “I wouldn’t say that if felt different. With this league, you never know. That’s what crazy about it. We just had to remain locked in just in case they scored because they were down two score. We’ve seen matches like that. It’s really just not getting comfortable between everyone, offense, defense and special teams because when it was was a four-minute we tried our best (to run out the clock) but they ended up stopping us and ended up just leaving it all to the defense and they ended up getting that stop.”
JAKE MATTHEWS, Left tackle
On winning the home opener: “I think in 2017 was the last time we won a season opener. Obviously, there’s a lot of room for improvement but hey, we won the first game, it’s something to be proud of. It’s hard to win in the NFL, we’ll get to work, fix things, and get ready for next week.”
On his thoughts about winning a home opener since 2017: “Like I said it’s really hard to win in the NFL and we came back in halftime, made some adjustments and thought we, in the second half, played a lot better so let’s build off that and keep rolling.”
On how the halftime adjustments worked against the Panthers: “First game you come out, it was just a little off on each instance, and a little mistake can go a long way in the NFL so we just tightened it up and executed better. I thought we stayed on the field and move the ball and made big plays and opportunities and we ran the ball really well. So, that’s what we wanted to do and we got in the red zone and punched it in, if we continue to do that, I think we’ll be successful.”
LORENZO CARTER, Outside linebacker
On being able to make the adjustments to stop Panthers’ QB Bryce Young: “We just made adjustments at halftime, came in, got the things we messed up on and fixed them. Our coaches did a great job coming in and making sure we all settled down and trusted the coaching and just trusting our trainers.”
On feeling the momentum building throughout the game: “It was good, we definitely felt it in the building, we gave a couple cheap stuff, but we came in, fixed it, and that’s all you can ask for”
On S Jessie Bates III giving energy for the defense: “Huge, huge, that’s one of the keys and takeaways, and to be able to get takeaways and get those big turnovers, help the offense out. You can’t really measure those.”
CALAIS CAMPBELL, Defensive end
On how it felt playing together as a new team in the season opener: “We’re going to get better, it’s just the beginning because there’s definitely some stuff where we’re trying to fill each other out a little bit, and that’s just part of it. You can do it in practice, but in the game, it’s a whole different environment, but it was fun. I think that we definitely have a good group that meshes well together, we talk through things, we’re smart, and you to continue to get better.”
On how they planned to contain Panthers’ QB Bryce Young: “We wanted to start fast too, but we’re definitely just keep coming, keep coming, keep sawing wood, and eventually we’re going to make the plays we need to. That fourth quarter we were humming, everybody take a turn. I get put in pressure and he made some, he made some good throws, threw the ball away a little bit, but after him. That’s all that matters is just put pressure, a sack or not. Just got to keep coming. Be better going forward in the next series.”
On how Carolina’s defense reacted to the offense struggling: “Well, I think that sometimes what’s understood doesn’t need to be said, and I think this defense, we’re a veteran defense, we got a lot of guys who want some ball games, just keep playing ball. Let’s make a play, get this thing started. Football is a momentum-based game, you got to make a play and it’s going to lead to momentum, it’s going to create. Really got to shout out Jessie Bates because wow, he made a bunch of plays today that were huge, three turnovers, I mean, come on, it’s the NFL, that’s crazy.”
A.J. TERRELL JR., Cornerback
On what his thoughts on S Jessie Bates III performance: “Great, we brought him here to be the leader, help us out and, he did everything but that, just out there making plays, playing fast, and that’s love. We all need that, need the energy, we love turnovers, getting on and off the field, like I said, just him coming out here doing his part like that and giving us a spark.”
On what he feels the defensive should clean up going into week two: “The little details would be the small things that make the big plays. Just the little details, whether it’s back end or in the trenches. So, just being dialed in with the tips and stuff that we get for, Green Bay coming up, just trusting it, trusting the whole system. We’ll be prepared for going out there and playing fast.”
On what he feels makes S Jessie Bates III a great player: “Just not being complacent, not being satisfied with one turnover, just coming out there, drive after drive, looking for the ball, just doing his job. That is what we all do. We just pride ourselves in doing our jobs and good things come to you when you do your job. So, we pride ourselves on doing what I want to let them do.”
RICHIE GRANT, Safety
On S Jessie Bates III’s performance in his Falcons debut: “I’m just being honest with you; I have not seen that since like college. You know what I mean? A hat tricks? That’s crazy. First game. We’re blessed for that. We are just going to keep stacking. We are all going to be there. Trust me.”
On whether it’s accurate to assume that the gameplan was to force Panthers QB Bryce Young to make the right reads in the pocket rather than sending pressure: “I mean, it was. It was tic-for-tact in terms of pressure and coverage, but I think we’re doing a good job up front in the passing game, without bringing any pressure. In the beginning, we wanted to speed it up a little bit, light it up, get his reads a little quicker. They did do a little tempo increase in there sometimes. So, it was hard to get some pressure calls in, but overall, I think, it was a little balanced.”
