On locker room clean-out day following the Falcons’ season finale, right guards Zane Beadles and Brandon Fusco discussed their seasons. Beadles would like to return, while Fusco is recovering from a broken right ankle.
Here's what they had to say (NOTE: Players were interviewed before the firing of all three coordinators were announced.):
ZANE BEADLES, right guard
On starting down the stretch: "It was awesome. This locker room is great. It was awesome to be a part of that. Good for me not knowing if I was going to be on a team this year. Coming in and being able to contribute was awesome. I had a lot of fun. I wish the season would have turned out differently, but there were definitely some good things to build on for this team."
On if he wants to come back: "No discussions have been had or anything that like that. I would love to have the opportunity. If it fits for both sides that would be a great thing. We'll see what happens as the offseason goes along."
On working next to right tackle Ty Sambrailo: "I thought it was really good. There was a period of time where there was all this shuffling around and everybody was settling in. I thought we settled in for a couple weeks and it worked really well. We were playing some good football."
On the resurgence of the run game: "It's really just takes some time. You get some new backs. You get some new lineman and those kind of things take tie to really work together and mesh. We were coming in every day and working hard. We were stacking days on top of each other. That's really what it takes and doing that kind of stuff and putting that work in."
On Chris Chester playing until he was 33, can he come back and do it: "Yeah, I think so. I just finished year nine. I'm 32 years old right now. My body definitely doesn't recover like it did when I was younger, but I know how to take care of myself better, too. We'll see what happens."
BRANDON FUSCO, right guard
On his broken right ankle: "My foot was in an awkward position. I think what happened was that I got rolled up on. That's part of the game. Very unfortunate. I've never had something like that happen to me. I tore my pectoral (muscle) when I was in Minnesota. This was definitely a lot worse. It was definitely scary."
On getting back out there: "I enjoyed my time when I was playing here. I'm looking forward to coming back with the team. The guys are great. It's a bunch of guys that work hard every day and having that mentality to win. We didn't do that this year. But things like that happen. I think we are all just anxious to get back and get going again."
On the five-game losing streak: "Injuries (are bad.) The little details I guess, but really it's not on just one person. It's on everybody on our team. We went through some bad breaks. Some bad bounces. That's just the way the season goes sometimes. We have a good team. We have a bunch of good players on this team. We are looking forward to next year."
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