Here's what Falcons players had to say after the 27-24 loss to the Colts Sunday:
FALCONS FREE SAFETY RICARDO ALLEN
On Keanu Neal's injury: "I said 'Man just keep righting.' I don't really know the full thing, but in his eyes it didn't look good. He understands the grind. He was with me last year. I was with him last year. So we understand what it takes to get back. We understand what this job requires of the body. We just have to keep being a believer, keep being strong and don't let it bring him down."
» MORE: Neal out with Achilles injury
On rehabbing: "It's a long life. You've got to keep that mind right.
“It’s his second time and he’s a strong dude. I don’t like seeing my bothers down. I don’t like seeing nobody down. Even the team we are going against, I don’t like seeing their guys go down. We have families at home. We have families outside of this. You want to play as hard as you can. As hard as you can for your team without hurting each other.”
More on Neal: "God bless him. I'm going to keep praying for him. I'm going to keep being there for him. If there is anything that he needs he knows I got his back."
FALCONS RUNNING BACK DEVONTA FREEMAN
Certainly not the outcome you guys wanted, but you were able to get the run game going. How good did it feel for you to kind of get those big, explosive runs today?
“It felt good – just the opportunity and to have those opportunities to make plays and stuff up. We just got to finish strong and be able to close out the game.”
» ALSO: What Matt Ryan said after loss
When you look back, I know each game is different, but what do you think allowed you to get in those holes and get those runs going?
“It was all just execution from all 11 guys around the board. On offense, it starts with the offensive line and just execution man. Finishing runs and my God-given ability a little bit and that’s it.”
Self-inflicted wounds and penalties are kind of the story of this game – 16 penalties. You are one of the veterans and leaders on this team, how do you fix that going forward?
“Just more attention to detail and fixing the little things in critical situations. Just trying to be great so when this situation happens, we know how to overcome it and stuff. Just got to go back to the drawing board and do a lot of work.”
What did Dan Quinn say to you guys after this loss today?
“We gotta get better on the road. We got to win on the road and just get better. We gotta find a way to win on the road. We already know it’s us against everybody, especially on the road. We just need to close out better.”
FALCONS WIDE RECEIVER JULIO JONES
In the game, 16 penalties, how do you guys fix that moving forward?
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what the penalties were. I wasn’t paying attention. I was just doing my job.”
At the end, you guys were able to rally in the second half, what can you say for that effort?
“We didn’t win. We got to get back to work. Plain and simple.”
What did Dan Quinn say to you guys after this game?
“That’s between the team. That’s it.”
FALCONS CORNERBACK DESMOND TRUFANT
There were a couple of third-down stops where you guys were really close. When you look back at the second half, do you feel like there are plays you left on the table?
“I have to watch it, but I know definitely we weren’t getting off when we had opportunities to. They were converting. Just got to keep watching the film and keep pushing – that’s all you can do.”
What did Dan Quinn say to you guys as a team after this game?
“This one hurts because you know we just didn’t play well. Defense, we had a chance to get off and didn’t get off so that’s not good. All you can do is learn from it and move forward. There’s a lot of football left so just keep pushing.”
On that last drive, what did the Colts do that you guys weren’t able to shut down from their run game?
“I think he’s a good running back. He found a crease and made a play. Got to take your hat off to him. At the end of the day, we know in that situation we got to get off. We got to do whatever we got to do to try to get the win.”
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