Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 25-0 loss to New England on Thursday night:
Jake Matthews, left tackle
On moving forward after two losses:
“It’s frustrating. It’s not who we want to be. It makes you angry. We know we’re better and we have to fix it and that’s what we intend on doing.”
On thoughts about the stats:
“Not good enough. Not acceptable. It takes all of us. I have to do a better job and as a group up-front, we have to do a better job. It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. We just have to execute better, and we will watch the film and proof on it. We win next week and get this thing rolling. That’s what we intend on doing.”
On steps to fix things:
“I think just executing. We know what to do and we just have to do it. We got to have confidence doing it and make it happen. It’s hard to give an answer and solve it right here, but it’s a lot of stuff. We’ll take the film out and figure it out. It’s definitely a group effort, that’s the biggest thing.”
On what he says after each hit:
“Try to correct it. It’s a special thing being a part of the offense line. It’s five guys working together like that, and we all have to do a better job and that’s our priority. Don’t let anybody touch the Quarterback and have to improve on that. It’s frustrating but it’s a long season.”
On how he keeps this from falling apart:
“Just regrouping. That’s the beauty of the NFL. You get an opportunity every week and these last two weeks are nowhere near where we want to be as a team and it’s not what we want to be known for. We have another opportunity next week and we win there. Like I said earlier, we start this thing and get rolling. It’s a long season.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
A.J. Terrell, left cornerback
On the team’s mood after the game:
“Just having short-term memory. Just have to finish games, play complete quarters, and bounce back and get ready for Monday.”
On the challenge of bouncing back after back-to-back lopsided losses:
“Like I said, just having short-term memory. Like the last two games we played, just have to come together, play a complete game, and just dominate.”
On Coach Arthur Smith’s postgame message to the team:
“Just bouncing back, get the bodies right during the break, and come in Monday and just get back ready to work”
On the team still believing on making the Playoffs:
“Definitely. That’s the mindset we have to keep. Like I said, another game next week coming up, just have to put this in the rear-view window and just move forward.”
On next steps to get ready for the Jacksonville Jaguars:
“Get our bodies right. These next couple of days, get our bodies right leading into Monday and just getting a head start watching film and get ready for them.”
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Qadree Ollison, running back
On the mood in the locker room following loss:
“After any loss, it’s disappointing. You know, you never want to come out after a game with a loss. But honestly, it’s also optimistic at the same time. We’ve got a lot of the season left and it’s nowhere near being over for us. Everybody I think is ready to get back to work and move on to Jacksonville and really start making a push because there’s still a whole lot of the season left and we’re far from out of it.”
On what it’s like on offense when the team is unable to sustain drives:
“It’s obviously frustrating. We want to and have to be able to execute and help out the defense and put points on the board. When you go out there and really don’t do that, it’s frustrating. But I think the biggest thing for us is continuing to keep working and keep grinding and keep our head up and chin up at all times.”
On first impressions of why the offense was unable to perform up to expectations:
“I think we shot ourselves in the foot a lot with just little things and little penalties. When you’re playing a team like New England, the thing that New England is really good at is not beating themselves. So you kinda have to play like a really, (doesn’t have to be) flawless (game), but you can’t have the little penalties and you can’t beat yourself and for figurative terms, shoot yourself in the foot. And we had too many little (things) that put us in first-and-15s or stuff like that, so we’ve got to better with that.”
On assessment of personal performance:
“I mean honestly, I don’t think it really matters because we didn’t get the win. I wanted to try and definitely bring a spark and bring a different type of running style to the offense, especially with CP (Cordarrelle Patterson) not being able to go. I know for a fact he wanted to play, so I was thankful and grateful for the opportunity. I really just wanted to bring a spark and really just do my job — that was the biggest thing this week is just doing your job.”
On any advice Cordarrelle Patterson gave before the game:
“CP, that’s my big bro. He really took me under his wing. He’s the same person every day, no matter if it’s game day, practice, off day. He’s the same person and he pretty much told me it’s just football. At the end of the day, that’s just what it is and what we’ve been doing our whole lives — don’t make it really bigger than what it is. You know, it’s just football and I know everybody knows that.”
Darren Hall, cornerback
On the change that need to be made moving forward for the seven games left in the season:
“Just continue to get better and do your job every day. I know myself, I could just do my job better every day. Continue to thrive and get better, know the playbook, know the game plan, and just continue to get better every day.”
On the mood in the locker room after the loss:
“Yeah, we’re upset, however, we know we’re still in this. It’s a long season, we still have seven games left. You never know, we could win the next seven games and be at the top of the division, so just continue to get better every single day.”
On why the team’s performance was better against the New England Patriots than against the Dallas Cowboys:
“I think we just all did our job. We kept the team key’s pretty simple, just do your job. Don’t do anyone else’s job, don’t worry about if anyone else is going to do their job, just be focused on yourself and doing your job every single play which then we will have a better chance at winning.”
On whether or not he was on the field during Nelson Agholor’s touchdown:
“No.”
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Next four games
Falcons at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28
Tampa Bay at Falcons, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 5
Falcons at Carolina, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 12
Falcons at San Francisco, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 19
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