Here’s what Falcons coach Dan Quinn had to say after the 34-23 win over the Packers on Sunday night:
Opening Statement:
"First off, I just want to acknowledge what a night this was for the city, for the fans and for us as a team. What a great night for Arthur Blank. He's put his heart and soul into this and that was our gratitude as a team. We wanted to make sure he saw that. We felt the fans. They had five false starts on the other side, so it was great to see that. After last week's game, we really emphasized our execution. We thought that was going to be a real factor for us playing well. We didn't execute as well as we would have liked. The real story for me, I thought, was the end of the first half with a big interception by Desmond Trufant. There was a touchdown to Tevin Coleman and then we came back out on the next drive and forced a fumble. Then there was a touchdown by Trufant. It was a great night for the city and for the fans and especially for Mr. Blank. We knew it was going to be a grind. This was going to be that kind of game that was going to take all night. We talked about that and prepared that way. It certainly was. It was difficult to go against that in a lot of phases. So, it was a great team win. I was especially pleased with the offensive line. They ended up getting some space and holes in the run game which was something that we really wanted to emphasize. So, it was a good team win. All three phases were involved tonight."
On Desmond's interception and touchdown:
"What a night for him. I just spoke to him and that was one play to remember for sure. He had an interception in practice on Thursday. He was really on his game and talked about that during the week. For that to come to life tonight, we knew we were going to get challenged with how effectively they can throw the ball. That was just a big play with him getting the interception at the end of the half. Then it was a smart play to start the second half on the forced fumble that you have to scoop up and take back. He was aware. It was a great way to have him back in that kind of performance tonight. So, we're really pumped for him."
On the efficiency of the offense:
"What we really wanted to emphasize was our execution. We thought the effort was on point last week, but there was a play here or a play there where it just wasn't crisp and detailed enough where we missed some. We knew the effort and strain would be there, but could we take our execution up a notch? We really had that as part of our preparation. When we go through the week, we prepare a lot for the opponent and so much of it comes right back to us. That's really the emphasis that we had in this week. Although we knew Green Bay and the tough opponent they are, it was still going to come back to us and our style, attitude and how we played. We're pleased to see that kind of execution tonight."
On Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman running:
"I thought it was an aggressive finish in some of the four-minute ops. Especially Freeman had some really aggressive runs and made yards after contact and made guys miss. That's vintage Freeman for those who covered him here. You saw Tevin's speed when he got out to the outside. I was pleased with that part of our game. Running the ball to take some time off at the end of the game was a critical part."
On Ryan Schraeder, Vic Beasley and Courtney Upshaw:
"I don't have any injury updates on them. I'll give you an update tomorrow as we go, but there is no change in their status from what was reported in game regarding those three. I'll gladly update that tomorrow."
On how Steve Sarkisian is different as an offensive coordinator:
"It started way back to when we first got here and were making sure that it's clear what style and attitude we want to play with. So, we were kind of indoctrinating Sarkisian into that. I thought he particularly did an excellent job of making this connection with Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub. We went through the whole process of looking at the things we did well and the things we'd like to try to improve upon. He added some wrinkles that were fresh eyes for us. As we got into training camp and now into the season, it's all about how we best feature the guys in their roles and how do we get them plays in certain formations. That part is becoming stronger. It was a really excellent job by the staff overall, making sure we could find ways to feature the guys in different packages. We saw that really come to life tonight."
On Mohamad Sanu:
"He's unique, because often times a person that plays in the slot is a smaller guy who has a really good change of direction. He just happens to be a taller guy who can bend and still change direction. You can imagine how difficult that is for option routes to cover somebody who has to change direction to beat man to man coverage and still have aggressive hands. One of the things we don't talk about a lot with him is how aggressively he goes after the ball. He's a very difficult matchup on the inside just based on his size and his ability to change direction. We come to life when there's different weapons. You never know who is going to be the one. Last week, Austin Hooper was the one on offense and on defense, it was Brooks Reed. Tonight, it was Trufant and Julio Jones. That's what this brotherhood is and you never know when it's going to be your time. You go hard as hell. When your opportunity is there, you've got to go for it. We don't have a way to say what's going to happen. It's impossible to predict that, but you can say that when your opportunity comes, you've got to go and nail it. I do love that about our offense. There are a number of guys that can make you pay. When your opportunity arises, you've got to go nail it and that's part of the execution talk we had. It's the same thing with defense. When your opportunity is there, it's time to go get the ball. The more consistent we are is when we can get really good. So, we've got a ways to go. We are just the second week in, but we're pumped on the performance of the guys and how hard they played tonight. We'll reset and get rolling again tomorrow."
On the rotation of players on defense:
"I really thought the rotation of the players was going to be one of those all-night kind of battles and it was going to take everybody. I thought they rotated the defensive line especially well. When the injuries took place with Upshaw and Beasley, it left them short-handed and they had to strain and go for it. In the end, I don't know how many passes they ended up with, but quite a few. That type of effort and strain is really to be commended. When another guy goes down, it's your turn to pick it up and go. In order to finish the game after dropping down two guys, they had to really battle. I was proud of the strain they showed tonight."
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