Here’s what Falcons coach Dan Quinn had to say about his staff’s self-scout of the team’s first four games on Monday:
DAN QUINN
OPENING STATEMENT: "We love this day coming off the bye, at the beginning of the season, we call it a 'Bonus Monday.' The thing that I was probably as impressed about today was the speed of the team at practice. We talked about re-setting and shining the light on some of the things we wanted to improve upon. We haven't felt like we've played our best ball yet and that's encouraging for us because we do feel like we can make some big strides and we plan on doing that. Situations we are going to emphasize, third downs is one that we really wanted to (and) certainly the ball is a big topic for us. Once we get that part squared away, we'll be much better off. Injury-wise, we had a lot of guys back today. Man, that was good to see... you could tell how hard they worked during the off time. From a coaching standpoint, we put a lot of work in not only with the scheme, but by player. These are two or three things you are doing really well and this one thing I think you can emphasize that you can add to your game this week. It was a big week for us."
SELF-SCOUT OF OFFENSE: "From the top-down look, there are some things we were doing well. We feel that we made strides in the run game. I think we can continue to make more in that way. We know its such an important factor of what we are. In that way, we think we can even get better. Third down is one that we wanted to improve upon in certain distances to make sure that part is really coming to life. Those are two things, one that we were doing well and can improve upon.
SELF-SCOUT OF DEFENSE: "We worked hard today on our tackling. We thought we had too many leaky yards after some missed tackles or ones where we grabbed and the contact kept going. We worked hard on that part today. Then creating more opportunities for takeaways. Those were at the front of it."
SELF-SCOUT SUMMARY: "We like the effort in all three phases that the guys are playing with. Now, let's match the execution to that kind of effort. When we do the three things together, when we talk about those three pillars , the ball, the battle and the brotherhood, not only are we hard to beat when those things really come to life we're a lot of fun to watch, we're a lot of fun coach and we're a lot of fun to be around. We are going to work like crazy to get those parts of your game, the battle, the prep, the competition and all of the practice things we want to improve upon. The last part is the brotherhood. That's the connection and love we have for one another, to make sure we have to take it and max it out as far as we can. It's a perfect time for us to reset. For whatever (reason) the bye hit us at the right time based on some injuries. It was great to have those guys (back at practice.) I was pleased to see a guy like Ty (Sambrailo) step up into the space that he had. (Damontae) Kazee stepped up into space when he was called upon. There will be other opportunities for that throughout the year. That's just the nature of the game and how it goes, but it was great to have a more full roster of guys back. It was a good start to the week."
About the Author
