What Falcons players said after the 41-17 loss to the Steelers on Sunday.
DE’VONDRE CAMPBELL, linebacker
On the defense: "We just couldn't get off the field on third downs."
On the bring defense together: "That's the nature of the game. Sometimes you do everything you possibly can and it doesn't work out. You just have to go back to the drawing board and keep pushing."
On moving forward: "The only we can do is take the positives and run with them. Look at the negatives, correct them and move on."
On the positives: "We couldn't get off the field on third downs. We got them to third down. Now, we have to get off the field."
On the Steelers running James Conner so much: "That's the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are a run-first team. They are always going to be a run-first team. Yeah, we knew that and we knew what the keys were. We just didn't get it done."
On the red zone defense: "They didn't do nothing special. We just have to make plays."
On the improving for the next game: "The thing I kept telling them on the sideline was that we have to push through this. We are going through a little funk right down and it happens. It's how we respond to it. Do we sit here and feel sorry for ourselves, we are going to continue to lose. If we go and make the corrections and the changes that we need to make, we'll be just fine."
On the second half: "I don't think it got away. They just made a couple more plays than we did."
JULIO JONES, wide receiver
On not getting a catch until the fourth quarter: "They had a good game play for me today. A lot of two-man discouraged Matt early on in that game that two guys were going to be on me throughout the whole game."
On the pass rush: "I don't know. My back was turned. I was running routes. I mean that's something I'll have to see Monday."
On the start of the second half: "Our plan is like any other week, as far as the offense, we have the ball, we are going out there and looking to score. Unfortunately, we didn't score."
On if he was shadowed by Joe Haden: "No. Only on the right side."
On the offense scoring just once in the second half: "Everybody has to do their job. We'll get in there tomorrow and watch film and see where we are lacking."
On staying in the game: "For me, it doesn't matter. I'm the type of guy that doesn't look at the score board and things like that. Until it's 0:00 on the clock, I'm going to play. That's What happened today. They had a good scheme."
On the rhythm of the game: "I've been doing this ... this is my eighth year now. I've been doing since college and high school. There is not rhythm for me. The just had a scheme put together. It wasn't nothing where they were taking me out of my game. ... I'm not a rhythm player."
On if the season is getting away from the Falcons: "No. You can't look down the road. It's one game at a time for us. That's it."
BROOKS REED, defensive linemen
On the defense: "I thought we were going to come out there and play consistent. Just like in the first half and be more consistent. We just have to play better. We have to tackle better. We just have to take a hard look at ourselves and see what we can improve on. We just have to play better. I have to look at myself."
On starting in base to stop the run: "It was just the little things that were hurting us from not getting off the field on third downs. Penalties and a couple of missed tackles here and there. The little things just add up to where big moments in the game decided it."
VIC BEASLEY, defensive end
On the defense: "We fought, but we didn't do a good enough job pretty much."
On the different front and if he wanted to start: "I think Coach had a good game plan. I think that would be a good question to ask him about what his intentions were. I think we were in the right position at times, but too many mistakes on my end and other guy's too. We have to be better."
On putting a game together: "It is a challenge. We are down. Guys are playing injured, fighting through a lot of pain. That's pretty much every team I guess. I feel like we've been hit pretty hard here lately. We have to keep going. They are not going to cancel a game from week to week. You have to go out there and play with the guys that you've got."
MOHAMED SANU, wide receiver
Where would you assess where you're at this point so far? Obviously, a long way to go, what's the feeling like in the room? "We just got to figure out, figure out what we got to do to play better, more precise, and make plays when we need to."
Anything you can kind of point to what went wrong in the second half? "We didn't play that well, and they played way better than we did."
Where do you go from here? "To the film room, see our mistakes, fix them. Go back out there and just grind. Keep grinding, keep working."
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