Falcons coach Dan Quinn was not in a good mood after the 26-16 loss to the Ravens on Sunday.
Here’s what Quinn had to say to the media:
Opening Statement: "It was tough today because these guys care like they do. I told them, man, this is the biggest challenge we have been in, in a while, certainly since I've been here. The reality is we have to embrace the hardness we are in and a part of. We've got an expectation of how this last quarter of football will go, and that expectation is for us to play well. It's a challenge that we have to overcome. We got a chance to do something about that a week from today, and that's what I told the team in the locker room as we just finished it up."
On losing the lead: "I thought we got some points on the first drive as it went down. We certainly had our chances to create some takeaways, defensively. I think there were three or four times the ball was on the ground to force one. It was good to see the one get recovered and go score with it. You guys have heard me, covering the team, talk about the importance of our turnover margin. I thought that was a step in the right direction. You're for sure right about especially in the third quarter, where we didn't get off the field enough and didn't convert third downs enough in the third quarter. I thought that was the real swing in the game. Usually, there is one spot you can go back and look to, to say, we can do that part better, and it felt like that in the third quarter to me."
On the lack of run game: "Clearly, they had a good run game and we said a few weeks ago we were going to stay committed to it, get our touches to go, and we get to the end of the game again today, we were in a drop-back game the whole time. That makes it tough. We have not opened the holes and the space and creating it at the spot and the level that we have come to understand is acceptable. We will continue to dig in to look to find ways because that part of our game has to be the same function as everything else for us to work it the way we need it to. When that's out of whack, and you become one-dimensional, it changes how you would defend somebody."
On how he is getting the team ready for Green Bay: "I did talk to them about that. The natural tendency is when you are in a tough spot, you could have separation. What I said is that's not who we are as a team. Stand up, fight for one another, stand next to one another and fight for it. The energy, the preparation, the mindset coming into this game, I thought, was on point in terms of where the guys were at. I expect us to do the same thing again this week heading into this game. I told them, you got a chance to do something about it a week from today, this feeling that we have. The guys are sick and pissed and disappointed, disbelief, frustrated, all the things that go when you don't play like you're capable of. Those emotions are real because you care a lot. That's okay, but we got to find a way to get back to it and fight again tomorrow and put a good plan together heading into next weekend."
On whether he wanted to stick with the way the offense played in the first quarter: "We certainly did in the third quarter, and didn't get enough touches to go, but that was certainly the plan, heading into the third quarter. Let's go back to more up-tempo, back to on the ball, and I don't know how many plays we had in the third quarter, but it was a small amount. We took some shots down the field, which we knew we were going to have to do. We didn't convert on those shots. I can think of three or four right now, where we didn't connect on them. That was in part of the plan to say all right, let's see if we can take some shots down the field to Julio (Jones). We did take a couple shots down the field to Tevin (Coleman), which we did, but when you don't convert on those, some of those big plays don't work, that leaves you into longer down and distances, but we certainly felt it was worth it to take those shots."
On whether he thought the wildcat play with Mohamed Sanu was going to work: "Well, yeah, we thought it was going to work."
On how he evaluated that play: "Better question. Again, it's a zero blitz, pure man-to-man with nobody helping, and it's one that we've connected on before in the past. We felt it was the right time to take a shot, totally trust Mohamed in that spot. It's one we have practiced on throughout the year, so it's not just one we put in this week. But it was one of those moments that came up. Hey, if they want to go zero blitz against our wildcat look, let's go after them and take a shot. That's one of those examples where we didn't connect."
On whether there was a missed block on the sack that led to a touchdown: "You know, I didn't get a first-hand look. I saw the end of the hit, to be honest with you, so I didn't see where the hit came from. I will be able to better assess that for you tomorrow."
On Deion Jones: "I saw intent for the football, the energy he plays with, the toughness. He had a great comment last night when he was talking to the defense. He wanted them to make sure, hey, this isn't about me. Let's go out and do our thing and play, but you could tell the excitement he had to be back playing, but it was just another affirmation of who he is as their teammate. He didn't want him coming back to be any big story. He wanted the story to be about the defense playing well, so I thought that said a lot about who he is as a teammate."
On other changes with the offensive line: "We will go back and look tomorrow and see as we went through the whole thing if that was the move that we want to continue with moving forward or not. So not back to the top, but I will look at that and see if that is a move we're going to continue with moving forward."
On the amount of options that he has: "That's for sure, and at the end of it, what can we do better and what ones we say, okay, this is where we're going to go with and over this next quarter to say this play, this style, this scheme, offensively game planning, it's this look for this look, this one for this one, and our offense is capable of doing that, but I want to make sure over the next month that we're going to feature plays of things that guys can do really well inside out. If that means some change of style, not change of style in our system but we will try to feature some guys in some things that they can do extremely well. I will look into that as well."
On whether he saw any guys dragging: "I recognize the question, for sure. I didn't see dragging. We did play hard, I didn't think we played well in execution but the effort, toughness, that part felt good. I didn't like the energy dips when it goes down and you're having to fight to get back. I don't worry about this team in terms of stepping back. I brought that up earlier because that's a natural thing when it's not going well, and not necessarily place blame somewhere else, but that could be, but I don't see this with this group of men. They're tight, they're connected, they're close, but they're frustrated, for sure. They put in a lot in because they care, so that's why they're frustrated. What I expect them to do is come back and fight our ass off, and we will put a good plan together heading into next weekend, and my expectation is for them to play well in this next quarter."
On whether he saw energy dips: "Yes, I think in all games there are ebbs and flows that it goes, but I just want to make sure, man, we're constantly pushing and pushing, and I thought having Deion (Jones) back was a good step in the right direction. He provides some of that energy for us, but we do need more explosive plays. That helps in terms of bringing the energy up, offensively."
On whether that difficulty stems from there being a large lead: "Right. Well, on the first one, but not out of line. I think that's fair and accurate to say. Early on you have that moment where it's okay, we will get it turned, we will get it turned. So I think when you hit the reality face where you're fighting to get to 500, yeah that stinks, and that hurts, but I also expect that's where we're at, and it's never again a group of guys that has been like let's back off and step away. We're way more of how do we go about improving and fixing what we need to get gone, and that's certainly the attitude I will take with the team."
On how much the penalties bothered him: "I think we had three on defense that ended up being some drives that got extended. I'll have to go back and look at them and see why. The one for (Sharrod) Neasman, I can see, it looked like a foul down from my viewpoint. I asked on the couple others, what did he see, and I'll have a better assessment for tomorrow, but for sure on the third downs, that's huge."
On whether the call of 12 men on the field burned him: "Yes, to say it lightly."
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