In the 38-0 loss to Carolina on Dec. 13, the Falcons were beaten on the field and they lost their poise.
There were several skirmishes in the game and defensive tackle Ra’Shede shoved a couple of his own teammates and got into a shoving match with defensive line coach Bryan Cox.
But after Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. clearly lost his cool and was suspended for a week after being baited into battles mostly with Carolina cornerback Josh Norman, the Falcons know they must maintain their poise when the Panthers come to the Georgia Dome on Sunday.
“From a competitive standpoint, the competitor in us all, that’s one of the things you just can’t let happen,” said Ryan on the Matt Ryan Show on 680 The Fan on Tuesday. “You can’t let somebody else take you off your game. We got a number of guys on our team who are really good about that.”
Ryan doesn’t remember ever getting thrown off his game.
“There are always some games…I remember a New Orleans game …a guy that I played with (at Boston College) Jo-Lonn Dunbar,” Ryan said. “He hit me real good, late. It was on a Monday night after I sled. He got up and it wasn’t like he was in my head or anything like that, but those kind of things happen.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a situation where somebody has taken me out of my game because of it. But you certainly see it from time to time.”
