FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons All-Pro wide receiver Roddy White led the league with 115 receptions last season. With the addition of Julio Jones, White should be in one-on-one coverage more often and plans to do his part to increase the team's long gainers.
In a Q&A with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter, White discussed his plans for the season:
Q: How did the exhibition season go for the offense?
A: I felt like we did a good job of just moving the ball up and down the field. We made some big plays out there. Obviously, we caught the ball well. I felt good about what we did. But when we get down there in the red zone, we have to score touchdowns. Especially against teams that have really good defenses down there.
Q: Is the team still hungry after winning the NFC South title last season?
A: Anytime that you work hard in this league, certain things come with that territory. Last year, was a good year for us. Our team excelled. ... but our ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl. Until that's done, we've got a lot of work to do.
Q: Have you been impressed with rookie wide receiver Julio Jones?
A: He's doing a good job. He's making a lot of plays out here. In his very first game, he showed a lot of explosion, which is good. He caught the ball well and broke some tackles. It's looking all good for him. As long as he keeps coming out here and getting better every day, and keeps his head in the playbook, he'll be just fine.
Q: Will there be enough passes to go around and keep everyone happy?
A: I think this year, there are going to be a lot of mismatches. Whoever has the best mismatch is probably where we are going to go with the ball. It's going to be tough to just line people up and cover us. You can't double-team all of us. At some point, somebody is going to get man-to-man coverage and that person has got to win. That's what I think is going to happen. Just pick your poison. Pick your medicine. Whoever has the best matchup is the person who's going to have the best game that day.
Q: You went young at receiver by not re-signing Brian Finneran and releasing Michael Jenkins. How will the young guys perform?
A: Harry [Douglas] has done a good job. [Eric] Weems has caught the ball in games. Julio is doing a great job, too. We need our young guys to get going.
Q: How will getting more explosive plays help the offense?
A: That will make scoring drives easier. To get that one big, [the] 30- or 40-yard gain, will set everything up. That's probably our biggest thing. We lacked a lot of explosive plays last year. I think we finished 30th or 31st. I think we had like 20 of them. We have to get it up around 40 or something like that just to help us out.
Q: What’s your thoughts on Matt Ryan throwing the deep ball?
A: It's a little bit of both. We have to go out there and do our jobs as receivers. We have to make some guys miss to help Matt out with them explosive plays. We have the rook [Jones] and he can run. He's a big guy and can get down field, and make some big explosive plays for us. That will be good for our offense. Matt has to throw them, too. Matt has to go out there and throw the ball down the field. That will help the offense out.
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