What the Falcons had to say after the 23-19 loss to the Bucs

“It’s obviously a disappointing loss. We had opportunities, I thought, throughout the game to score more points, we had more opportunities in the red zone. We didn’t come away with enough touchdowns and then at the end of the game, obviously you don’t want to turn it over on the first play of the drive so that was disappointing as well.”

(On what he say on last play he threw for an interception)

“Obviously I saw two-Tampa coverage, something that they play the entire game. I think Lavonte David got too much depth on that, I shouldn’t have made that throw. At some point during that drive, we were going to have to make an aggressive throw against their soft coverage, but that wasn’t the time to do it.”

(On the turnaround from starting 5-0 to 6-6 now)

“It’s disappointing, that’s for sure. We got off to a fast start this season and found ways to get it done late in games and we haven’t done that enough in the last couple of weeks. So it’s disappointing, there is no doubt about it. But we have four game left and we are still in the mix. We got to find a way to get it done and that starts this week. All we can worry about is in really trying to find a way to get a win this week and making sure that we do everything we can when we get back in the facility tomorrow to correct the things we didn’t do well today.”

WIDE RECEIVER JULIO JONES

(On the loss)

“This is very tough. Like you said, we had it. We didn’t finish the game, the way we are capable of finishing the game. We came out today with a lot of energy. We practiced very well this week. We came into the game very confident that we were going to win the game. We just didn’t get the outcome that we wanted.

(On the red zone)

Our main focus is to score when we get in the red zone. It’s not about field goals. We have to get ready in the red zone.

RETURNER DEVIN HESTER

(On returning from injury)

“If felt great to be out there part of the team, it’s tough right now with the lost we had today. Other than that, it’s just great to be out there.”

(On how he felt being on the field playing)

“Its football, if anyone saying they are 100 percent right now, at this point of the season, they’re lying. Yes I am a little bit sore right now but it’s football, everyone is sore right now. We just have to push through and play. And hope for the best.”

(On the message delivered after the game)

“Really, no excuses. They came out and played a better football game than we did. Opportunities that we had, we didn’t execute and make the play. And they did when they got the opportunity.”

LINEBACKER O’BRIEN SCHOFIELD

(On the message to the team after today’s lost)

“Control what we can control. We have to put all of our focus on Carolina [Panthers,] make these corrections when we get in tomorrow. I think everybody played really hard today. Defense did a great job getting the ball back trying to put the offense in great situations. That third-and-19 [conversion], it really hurt us towards the end. Those are the situations, where as a team, we got to finish and get the win.”

(On the disconnect between the coaches’ message and the players’ execution)

“I wouldn’t say disconnect, we are playing against other athletes. Those guys get paid too, and certain situations, from us technique sound, we have to do better, we have to focus on those things in the game in those situations. Collectively as a group, we have to do a better job rallying to the ball.”

RUNNING BACK DEVONTA FREEMAN

(On how it felt to be back on the field after missing last week’s game)

“It feels good just to go out there and be able to compete. I think I’m a great competitor. I love to compete, I love to fight for my brothers, my coaches, the whole organization. It felt good just to get back out here.”

(On the team’s mentality moving forward)

“Focus, fix the mistakes and see how [we can] win to turn things around. It’s going to start tomorrow in practice but we’ve just got to figure out a way to win and finish the game. We’ve got to finish better.”

(On if he felt good physically)

“I felt like I could’ve done better on some things.”

SAFETY WILLIAM MOORE

(On what the Falcons must do for the remainder of the season)

“Keep fighting. Keep fighting. We knew how important this game was coming into it, and we came up short as a team, and we’ve got to keep fighting. That’s all it is.”

(On how the Falcons can improve on their tackling moving forward)

“Fundamentals. We’ve got to go back to strong board during practice. It’s hard to get those reps during practice – you know, we don’t wear pads throughout the season – but that’s not an excuse. We’re all professionals and I think we focused a lot on getting the ball back, which takes away from our fundamentals of tackling. I think we just need to make sure the tackle is secured before we go after the ball.”