Opening statement:
“I knew we had a great week of preparation as a team on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It was going to take that. We knew facing a good outfit that we would need good preparation and we did. The thing that we thought about was the football. For us, to end up plus four today, in terms of turnovers was exactly like we like playing. It was a great job by the offense, and then the defense I believe scoring twice was just terrific. I can’t talk about the balance on offense enough. Over 130-yards rushing and over 250 passing, that’s when we’re at our best. I think that showed today, but some guys really stepped up. We had some guys that were banged up, and other guys who just stepped up exactly like we like. Robenson Therezie was one of those, and then scoring two times on defense. It was a great team effort today against a really well coached outfit across the hall.”
Justin Durant’s injury:
“He had a strain in his elbow, so we decided to hold him out. I’ll have more information on him tomorrow.”
Devonta Freeman’s performance:
“I’m not surprised at all. The amount of grit and toughness that he plays with, he just loves to battle. I thought it was a real demonstration of his toughness, and all of the energy that he brings to our team.”
Freeman’s receiving:
“Not only is he a good catcher, he can line up outside at receiver and run good routes, so he’s a really complete back in that way. It’s a real weapon for us. Knowing that we can have a chance to match him up on linebackers, and it’s something that we’re going to continue to do for sure. He’s just got this relentless ability to keep competing. It’s one of the things that I really most respect about him and his game.”
Kyle Shanahan’s play calling:
“I think that’s one of the things that make it so hard to go against the offense in the run game, and all of the things that we’ll do each week to attack. Every time we’re going out we just want to know that we can attack. We just want to make sure we can feature our guys in the very best way to allow them to play at their best. I think Kyle [Shanahan] really does a great job with that.”
Desmond Trufant’s defense:
“I think they challenged him some outside. We expected that. We knew it was quiet for a little while, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen all the way throughout the season. He just answered like he always does. He had two fumble recoveries today. We couldn’t be more pleased with his game. He works at it extremely hard. Those are the things that you don’t see behind the scenes of why he is so good. He just relentlessly works at getting better.”
The offensive line:
“I think just the communication and toughness with this group. They keep getting closer and bonding even more. They’ve got a terrific front, in terms of style and the attitude that we play. There is no surprise how close these guys are getting. It’s been a big factor for us. It really has. There closeness, connection, and toughness has been a real big factor for us starting off.”
Matt Ryan’s early season performance:
“The only thing I think he exceeded my expectations on is the competitor that he is. For all of the guys here, they knew. For us going against him, we knew he was really good. Then there’s another level of focus that he has, so you don’t know that part going against him because you aren’t here every day. I just found out how tough of a competitor that he really is, so that would probably be the thing. He loves to challenge. The relationship between him and Kyle Shanahan is so good because they both keep trying to push it further.”
The running game against Texans:
“We knew we would have our hands full. They’re a good outfit, and we’ve got a good outfit as well. We knew this challenge was going to be right there for us. We’ve got a lot of confidence and faith in our offensive line, and our system in general. It takes all 11 for us to run the ball. That’s part of our philosophy offensively. You can see this group really getting close, and the connection they have for another and how hard they want to play for one another. That part’s really coming through.”
— Courtesy of Atlanta Falcons PR
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