What Deshaun Watson had to say about the Falcons

Q: What were your fondest memories of that time of your life, when you were working for the Falcons in high school?

A: "Everything. I played Fridays — well, Thursdays, I would get to watch my little brother play in middle school, Fridays I would have my game, Saturday I would go up to Clemson and watch the Clemson game and then Sundays come back home go to Atlanta and be on the sideline with the Falcons. It was a neat experience. I kind of got all, if you want to call it four phases, starting from middle school, high school college, college to the professional on Sundays. It was a neat experience, it was an awesome experience, it was very eye-opening and a great time, a great opportunity for myself, especially with everything that was going on off the field with my mom and her situation and just finding ways to kind of stay in tune, get the negative things out of my head and keep me focused and locked in."

Q: What was a piece of advice you received from the players at the Falcons when you were there?

A: "We just kind of just casually talked. They got to know me, kind of watch me play and we joked around about going to different schools and what I was doing on Fridays and different things like that. It was just, for me, watching it myself. I'm a visual learner and I like to watch people and observe. I think that's the best way I learn, and just watching those guys work and everything they put into being professionals."

Q: Did you ever consider going to any Georgia games when you were in high school?

A: "I went to one Georgia game and that was versus Tennessee, and really the reason I went to the Tennessee-Georgia game was A.J. Johnson who plays for the Broncos now. He was from my high school, and we played together. He was like a big brother, so I really went to watch him. Georgia wasn't really on me for some reason."

Q: Did Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones ever talk to you about his experience at the University of Alabama?

A: "Yeah, he did, and he had Roddy White, who went to UAB. They wanted me to go to a Bama school. I saw an article today, they both said that they tried to get me to go to Bama, but I was already too far locked in on Clemson, which I was. I knew what I had with coach (Dabo) Swinney and coach (Chad) Morris at the time and what I wanted to do there."

Q: Can you talk about why you spent some extra time on the field after the game on Sunday, and what did you think about the attention it got?

A: "It was nothing that I wanted attention for. It was something that we always do, win or loss. We always talk about the game, review, and at the time we were just already here because I stayed here, my family went to the airport, so Quincy (Avery), my QB trainer, was on the way here and I just kind of stayed out there, got in the sauna, did some recovery stuff, and we were already here so we just walked through on the field. We weren't really trying to buy any attention. We weren't really talking about — I see a lot of people saying that it was just those deep balls I was focused on. It wasn't that. We talked about the whole game, the good and the bad. We do that every week. We sometimes do it in my neighborhood, sometimes do it on the practice field, just wherever we find time to go do it. That just keeps me fresh, correct the mistakes and then kind of sharpen the good things. It was just kind of walking through what the game was. We do it every week. It just kind of keeps my mind fresh, keeps me going and trying to get better."

Q: What were some things you did as a ball boy with the Falcons?

A: "I did everything. I did the equipment, washed the laundry, I threw to all the receivers, threw with Matt Ryan, watched him throw, did some of the water stuff, helped Arthur Blank out. I did pretty much everything. I was there for four years and kind of got the whole experience. It was awesome to be able to watch everything, watch the walk-throughs, watch the practices and learn."

Q: Was there any particular game with the Falcons that stood out to you?

A: "It was the time when — I think it was the year that the 49ers went to the Super Bowl, so it might have been '12 with (Colin) Kaepernick. That run they had when they played Seattle, then they played the 49ers. That year was just a heck of a year and just kind of getting the experience of the regular season and then also the playoff atmosphere and being on the sideline with the team, it was neat."

Q: What is it going to feel like playing against your hometown team?

A: "It'll be cool. It's a neat experience, like I said before, but you just treat it like every other game. Just focus on what I need to do, try to execute as best as I can, try to take what they give us and then try to get the W. That's the biggest thing. If we were playing there it would be a little different, but since we're playing in Houston, it's definitely a little bit easier."

Q: Are your friends and family still Falcons fans?

A: "They rock with H-town. They cheer for the Falcons, but they're H-town."

Q: You got a lot of attention for your technical answer after the game on Sunday. What are your thoughts on fans enjoying you getting technical like that?

A: "I'm not sure if the guy is in here or not, we talked about it after — I think on Monday. It was more of just putting himself, or putting you guys, in our shoes and what we have to process. That was very simple, basic coverages. People do exotic stuff on third downs, we've got to do protections, we've got to make sure we MIKE point this, I've got to make sure they're on the same page, I've got to lock this receiver so he doesn't throw hot, so there's a lot more into it, and that question just kind of made me, 'OK, let me just put you in our shoes on what professional quarterbacks — not just quarterbacks, but everyone has to deal with,' and we all have to be on the same page. It was just kind of a really simple explanation on what I was dealing with and what the Carolina Panthers were really trying to do. They did a good job of being disciplined in their coverage and their defense and did a heck of a job of keeping us out of the end zone once we got down there. I guess more people should do it, especially the older guys like Tom Brady and the (Drew) Brees, really doing YouTube videos and really expressing what they see and what they do and process, because I would be interested to watch it for sure if guys like that were doing it more and very technical that have seen a lot of football."

Q: Do you feel like you took a big step forward after you learned how defenses work?

A: "Oh for sure. I'm always learning and I'm always going to grow and try to learn as much as I can. Even talking to guys that have been in the league for a long time, they can tell you the same thing that there's always new flavors, new disguises and new things that defensive coordinators are doing to try to improve and frustrate and get us confused, and get us off script. However long I play this game, I'm always going to continue to learn and continue to grow in that area. I'm never going to be perfect or feel like I've got it. I'm going to always find new pieces and techniques that the defense is doing to try to help myself see what they're doing and try to execute."

Q: What do you see from WR Keke Coutee as he works his way back into the mix?

A: "The four weeks that he took off in the preseason were very tough, nothing that we wanted. But it kind of set him back a little bit as far as getting back into his groove. He's getting back to himself. He's feeling fully healthy and fully back into what he likes to do. We put him in areas and situations that he's good at, to be able to execute and help this offense go. It's good to have him back and have him feeling confident and getting back to what he's always been doing."

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