Falcons tight end Austin Hooper was distraught after he was stripped of a ball in the red zone on a potential game-winning drive against Miami on Sunday.
He’s pulled himself back together in time to face the New England Patriots.
Hooper has 22 catches for 242 yards and one touchdown and is the 10th-rated tight end in the NFL by Football Outsiders.com. He has a very strong 77 percent catch rate.
He received Quinn’s message loud and clear about attack passes and playing strong through the catch.
“You can draw stuff on the board all day, but you have to bring it life,” Hooper said. “(Falcons coach Dan Quinn) talks about it all the time bring it to life. That’s the key to it. That’s my mantra of the week.”
Hooper, who caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl against the Patriots, is not putting too much stock in the unit being last in the league in total yards (412 yards per game) and passing yards (309 yards per game).
“Those guys are still a very talented football team,” Hooper said. “They might have had a rough beginning, but it’s still early in the year. Those aren’t 16-games weighted stats. Those are from a few games, a small sample size. They are talented. They have a lot of good players.”
