What Dan Quinn had to say on Monday

Opening Statement:
"I told the team last night and again today, I really thought this was a brotherhood win, and not only the players but the fans certainly earned that one, as well. I thought the execution part of our game came to life more in this one than it has before. We've put a lot of preparation in over the last couple weeks to emphasize more on third down, more on red zone, and it was good to see that carry over into the game. We've created more takeaways over the last two weeks, so for us to have that turnover margin jump, it has to come when you get defensive takeaways. Over the last couple weeks to force four fumbles, I thought that's a good start for us. We're pumped and we're excited for the opportunity in front of us this week. We'll push our schedule back a day that we're playing on Monday night, so we'll treat Thursday like it'll be a Wednesday, and we'll give the players an extra day of rest this week in preparation for the game. From an injury standpoint, the only thing coming through from the game was Devonta Freeman will be in the concussion protocol, and that began last night at the game. Past that, I'm glad to open it up to questions."

On whether there is any concern of how the team will move forward until Freeman gets out of the concussion protocol:
"No, we really trust the process the guys go through to come back and get ready, and almost like a day-by-day process in terms of when the player is back and ready. For all the guys, we're going to make sure we take great care not just of Devonta but of every guy that goes through that to make sure they're feeling at their best and ready to come back. Until that time comes, we'll let him go through the process."

On how Tevin Coleman and Terron Ward played yesterday:
"It was good to get Tevin extended play time, so for him to get 20 carries in a game, I thought it was a good deal for him to show I can handle that load when needed to. They've been such a good complement together both Tev [Tevin Coleman] and Free [Devonta Freeman]. There's occasionally times where one is out and the other one has to take the load, and that was the case yesterday with Devonta leaving so early in the ballgame. We knew we could lean on Tevin in that way and we'll continue to do so until Free comes back. But Ward is somebody that we've counted on for three years now. When his number gets called, he's a guy that likes to answer the bell and answer the challenge. He's always been one of our most prepared players. That's why we trust him as a punt protector, that's why we trust him to go into the game kind of at a moment's notice. In that running back room, he is one of the guys that they look to in terms of he's always on it, protections, and the run game. Football comes really cleanly and clearly to Ward. We're excited he's here, and we'll lean on those two guys."

On where Brian Hill is at in his development:
"We feel he's made progress over the last couple weeks. As his plan D work has taken place, I felt maybe over the last month, you've seen that come through. He's been one of the black jersey award winners for us during that time. We're encouraged by his development so far."

On Freeman's previous injury in the game against Carolina:
"He had a bruised knee in that one, so that's what he was on our injury report for. I know he was evaluated on the sideline, but by no means was he put in a concussion protocol. So last week any limitation he had was due to the bruised knee, nothing past that."

On whether he pays any attentions to other players comments about the Falcons:
"No, you know what, I don't, because that's nothing that I can control. What makes this game special is the players and the competitive fire that they have and respect they have for one another to go after it. I know what we do and how we go through it. We don't lean on anyone else outside our walls for any motivation or for any accuracy on the medical decision for sure."

On whether Freeman's injury will keep him from playing in at least one game:
"Not until we get all the way through the medical reports and go through that, and the [week] is extended also by a day. I won't rule him out until they say he's ruled out. We're going to do the very best looking out for him. I can promise you that. But until they say that, then I'll lean on that way. But until that time comes, nothing from my end to report."

On Dontari Poe's performance in yesterday's game:
"On the defensive side, I thought Dontari really had his best game, and there were a number of guys we felt had a tick up in their practice and their preparation. He was one that I spoke of maybe at the end of last week. As far as the goal line part is concerned, I've been nudging that along for a while, and it's a part of his game that he's able to do not only can he line up at fullback and he can catch it and he can run it, he's got some of the best hands we have. It definitely brought some energy to our team, and it was a pretty clear running lane to run right behind. It was good to have him in the game, and it definitely brought some energy to the team. He's such a versatile guy and such a good athlete, it's pretty easy to do, and Ben Garland was in goal line, as well, so there's very few men that have been in the same season on goal line defense and on goal line offense, and those two have been on that."

On Poe enjoying playing offense:
"I would imagine that."

On whether he has expressed that at all:
"No, he's a pretty quiet guy, but that's generally when you get a smile out of him. 'Hey, you want to go and play some goal line this week?' There's a nice smile that comes over his face. He was ready for that. I thought it was the right time for him to get involved in that way, and he did a really good job."

On the flip along the line of scrimmage after the first quarter:
"We really thought the third quarter was an area that we haven't done as well as we'd hoped, and in that game, it flipped. At the end of the second quarter we scored a touchdown, came back, had a turnover from [Adrian] Clayborn, had a shot maybe to go and came back, took the ball again and scored. Those opportunities when you can stack a score on to another score, where the second quarter into the third quarter, that's a big deal, and when we were able to do that, I thought that was just a good sign for where we can go to. I thought different phases of the game leaned on one another. We knew it was going to be a line of scrimmage game. Both teams have good lines of scrimmage. They're able to run it; we like running it. They have pass rushers; we have pass rushers. So that part of the game I knew where the match-ups were in this game and how important the line of scrimmage would be in this game, and so for us to answer that challenge on the defensive side and to answer that challenge on the offensive side. Sometimes there are tough one and two-yard runs that you have to say with knowing that they're going to be there again at the end. Sometimes even when the run was one yard, you may go back and look at it the next day and say, 'Man, it was right there, we had an opportunity to do that.' So you stay with it and you keep battling, you keep pounding for it because that's a big part of what we do."

On Sean Weatherspoon:
"He was one in our practice preparation, I thought Spoon did an excellent job of helping set kind of the week off. I had said last week our Wednesday practice was loud, and it wasn't just from the voices. So, his loud was the way he spoke with his pads, and I thought that was an important part of the week and our preparation. But he does bring energy to our team, and we're excited to have him back in."

On what he appreciates about Tevin Coleman:
"It's the explosive plays that Tev is able to create, and it's the three-yard run and all of a sudden it turns into a 25-yard run. It's the explosiveness, it's the speed that he has when he can get on the edge or get to the second level. Those are the ones when he gets to the next level, you're watching and you're like, 'Okay, it's about to go.' When he's able to break out into the clear, that's where some of his finish comes in. I thought it was a nice job yesterday on one of the runs of using a stiff arm. We're disappointed we didn't get him the touchdown at the end that got called back on a foul because I thought that was a nice example of his ability to get on the edge, take it, and use the stiff arm. I thought that would have been a nice cap for him to finish it off."

On what Tevin Coleman is like on the sideline:
"Tevin is like most guys, they're the same customer all the time. Tevin is a cool cat, and so on the sideline he's that way, too. Where Freeman is up in your face and yelling, Tev is more true to his self, and he's always ready, and I really respect that about him. He just doesn't get too fazed by things, doesn't get too out of whack. I love the violence that he runs with, when he lowers his shoulder, because of that speed that he has. This is not a 180-pound back. This is a guy who knows how to drop his shoulder and go finish a run, and there are plenty of examples of that.'

On whether one of Tevin Coleman's runs in college really jumped out to him:
"There were a number, and you could list them as 90-yarders, 80-yarders, 70-yarders, on the way down, because it was his ability to create the big one that not only makes some of the run game come to life with the explosiveness that it can happen, but it's that factor, like this could be this next play. All 11 guys are involved in the run game, and you don't want to be the guy that didn't make the backside block that could have set he or Devonta [Freeman] free. I love the tandem of what those two guys bring. With Tevin, we leaned on him extra yesterday, and he responded in a big way."

On what they have seen from Marvin Hall from a development standpoint:
"The speed part is the first thing that jumps out to us with Marvin, where he's able to run some of the deep through routes, the deep shot plays that you have to be able to take to stretch a defense into not just laterally but up the field, too. So if you can work a defense at all three spots, it presents a lot of challenges. So he's one that can take the top off with his speed, the deep crossing routes to get behind the linebacker or safety, and he'll just get better and better the more that he does of that. He plays a lot of the same positions that Julio [Jones] does in terms of the speed, type, and style of play that Gabe [Taylor Gabriel] and Ju [Julio Jones] does, so that's how we try to feature him, once we know what the guy can do best."

On how Richard Sherman being out will change the dynamic for the Seahawks:
"I texted with him afterwards just because he's such a competitor, so his response was, 'Tell J.J., I'll miss competing against him.' He brings out the best, so he's always thinking in terms of a competitor. But he's such a competitor. He wants the challenges. He's an excellent tackler. So any time a guy is out, you feel it, but that's also what playing in our league is, where guys have to step up in different opportunities, and every team deals with it, and they'll be equipped to deal with it, as well."

On the defense:
"As we shift into the second half, I've always felt that team chemistry, that's an important part of it, and that type of communication can really kind of set you free in terms of where you want to go to as a group. It's not just the defensive line or the linebackers or the secondary, but they've made significant improvements in some areas. We're still going to work third down like crazy and that's how the rush and the coverage work in concert together, and then the turnover margin. We had another penalty taken back from a takeaway yesterday. That is a trend that has to go the other way because we've had, I don't know, four at least that have gone the other way due to a penalty. It's kind of like on the offense, you never know which play could be the one to spring, so same thing from the defensive side, let's make sure we're playing with great discipline, so those things lead. But tackling has improved. We're playing tighter in terms of some of the zones that we play in terms of coverage. Yeah, I think there's another tick to go for the group, but that team chemistry, that connection they have amongst one another, that'll help them get to a new spot."

On whether he's ever had a player have six sacks in a game:
"You know, somebody asked me that last night, and I don't think that I had. I said, it will be a game, you know, a long time from now that he'll get to look back and say, 'One day, there was a time when I put the guy down six times.' It was just a night where everything really connected for him, but [when] I was driving home and thinking about him where last year later in the year, but was in a really dark time, got injured and he had some injuries in the past and where does that stand when a team was continuing to play without him. That hurt. So it was during those times of rehab that you put the work in for moments like that, to say it was worth all the extra things that I did to put myself in a position to do that. He's a very consistent player, one of our most consistent I'd say, and behind the scenes he has a big role here in terms of communication and making sure things go right. For him, a guy who's so quiet and so tough, to have that kind of performance, the team was really pumped for him."

Subscribe to "The Bow Tie Chronicles" podcast with the AJC's D. Orlando Ledbetter on iTunes or on the new AJC sports podcasts page.