FB B.J. ASKEW
(On how different the Falcons are from Week 2 and last year)
“They’ve jelled a lot better. They had a lot going on in the organization. I think they got a lot of that stuff fixed and they’re playing a lot tougher. They’re making big plays. It’s not going to be the same game that we had. We know that, so we just have to prepare and get ready to play.”
(On NFC South teams being so good at home)
“I think really [it’s] the fans. You’ve got the fans in there making all that noise and it’s just so exciting to play at home. Even as a player, there’s no place like home. I think all that energy that comes along with it makes it tough for teams.”
(On if NFC South crowds are the best in the league)
“That’s the way I guess it seems to be.”
LB DERRICK BROOKS
(On if he has watched the film of the loss to Carolina and what his impressions are)
“The coaches obviously addressed it this morning. Because it was an off day we defensively will watch it today after today’s practice. Monte [Kiffin] summed it up by saying that it is not as bad as we thought as far as the scheme, but as far as our performance, it clearly was very similar to every game that we have given up big yards and it is tackling. Three guys in the whole have to make the play and secondly when the first guy missed we didn’t have enough guys to finish off runs. That internally is what the coaches shared and at the same time they gave credit to Carolina. On Monday night they were a better team offensively than we were defensively and we gave them credit. We were a better team earlier in the season defensively than they were offensively so we give our opponents credit we will address the issue today and once we watch it after practice we burry it and move on.”
(On the problems seeming like they were fundamentals)
“We were humbled and it happens. It happens to the best of us. I was vividly thinking about how that game reminded me of Pittsburgh during the 2002 season here at home on Monday night and there was very simplistic stuff we didn’t do like tackling. We corrected it the very next week and we didn’t lose again that year. We have to bounce back, the most important thing is that we bury it and move on and not let it drag on.”
(On the struggles on the road)
“To me it isn’t as much a road issue, it is more of trusting in the system. Trust the defense, trust the offense and don’t panic when teams get big plays. To me I think we get into a little bit of a panic mode because our offense is playing so well, that we want to do our job on defense to get them the ball because they were in a rhythm and we just lost our gap fundamentally and we started to hit the panic button when we just needed to keep it simple and make our plays as simple as they were.”
WR ANTONIO BRYANT
(On what he can take away from his performance and the offensive performance against Carolina)
“I just think it’s very simple. You go into the game as if we are already in the playoffs, and not anticipating and sitting back, counting and calculating what it takes to get there, who needs to lose who needs to win. Everybody is just coming to play, that’s it.”
(On making difficult catches)
“All I want to do is have the opportunity to play good football. Coach Gruden blessed me with the opportunity, and that’s what I’m going to do. Like he said, he doesn’t expect anything less from me, so I can’t sit here and be all happy about it. I’m out here; I’m trying to get in the playoffs. I haven’t been in a position like this in my career, maybe but once. I’m excited about it, got a great bunch of guys that I work with, and we’ve got the same goal in common, having fun and doing what we’re supposed to do.”
(On big plays offensively)
“Hopefully we have some more things coming. We got a lot of great playmakers over here we’re tying to get going. Cadillac Williams – two games, two touchdowns. Joey [Galloway], we’re going to anticipate some good things from him hopefully. There are a lot things we’re trying to get done; it’s just time to see some of the things we didn’t see in the latter part of the season.”
CB PHILLIP BUCHANON
(On Carolina’s game plan)
“They had a good game plan. It was just one of those games that we really didn’t do anything right. We didn’t tackle well. Carolina came in with the game plan to run the ball and then they were successful. We weren’t able to step up like we normally do on defense and it was just one of those nights.”
(On how they fix the mistakes from last week)
“It goes back to what coach Gruden said, how many team’s would like to be 9-4 in December. I guarantee there are a lot of teams that would like to be 9-4. At the same time we just have to go in and correct our mistakes and I know that we will be fine. We are definitely looking forward to this game, Atlanta is looking forward to this game. Atlanta is a big game and it is going to be the same type of environment an away game and we haven’t done to well on the road so I think this week we will step up.”
QB JEFF GARCIA
(On short week preparing for Falcons)
“As Coach [Gruden] says, we can’t afford to look in the rear view mirror, it’s about moving forward. [We have] another great opportunity this week in Atlanta. It probably is somewhat of a good thing that we can get back to work quickly and not dwell on the game that much. We can’t live in the past; what happened on Monday night I, thought it was a well-played game in a lot of ways; they just were the better team that night. But now we focus on Atlanta, another good football team, and another division opponent that we have to go in and try to take care of business.”
(On playing back-to-back division road games)
“It is what it is; you can’t really over think the situation. The good thing is that it is a division opponent, so we have seen them before. We somewhat know what they’re going to do, or what they do defensively, or from their different looks as far as what our defense will see and what we’ll see offensively. So as far as that’s concerned, at least we’re dealing with familiarity here. As far as the one day less, teams have to do it every week when they play on Sunday, [then] they play on Thursday night, they get even a shorter week, so it’s just the way that it is. We’re ready to go, this is a normal Wednesday, and everybody is going to pick it up a notch and get ready for what we have to face Sunday.”
(On encouraging words for Atlanta QB Matt Ryan after game in Week 2)
“I think you just see a player who doesn’t necessarily approach the game like a rookie. I think he’s a guy who has some tremendous abilities physically, but knows how to handle things from a maturity standpoint. And I think that just more so than anything is a compliment to him and his upbringing, and what he’s all about. He’s doing a great job in leading that team; he’s not playing like this is his first year in the league. He has a good supporting cast around him, but he makes plays, he does a great job, and I think more so than anything it was a compliment to him, and just keeping his head up. I know that it was a tough day for him against us, but obviously he’s turned things around. He showed that he’s very capable of leading a good team and doing great things on the field.”
(On being successful as a rookie quarterback like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have done this season)
“Well it’s extremely difficult. I was never in their position, but I could only imagine that, especially when you go to a team like Atlanta, who has struggled the last couple of years, and you’re the first pick and so much of that weight is thrown on your shoulders to be the guy. But their coaching staff has done a tremendous job; they’ve done a tremendous job in getting their entire team to pick up their level of play. They’ve really rallied around him. He has a pretty good supporting cast, but he goes out there and plays good football, good solid football, and same with [QB Joe Flacco] out in Baltimore. They have a tremendous defense, they have some players that can play on offense, but more so than anything, they’re not making big mistakes. They’re not making mistakes that hurt their team. They’re going out and mentally playing the game with great vision, with a mental sharpness that is very rare amongst young quarterbacks. To have the pressure that they have thrown upon their shoulders and to handle it the way they have is a tremendous accomplishment by them.”
DT JOVAN HAYE
(On how difficult it was to watch the Carolina game from the sideline)
"It was very hard. Any time you're part of a great group like that and you're not out there, it hurts. It was hard to watch. But it's a business and you've got to move on and try to get back as fast as possible."
(On overcoming a tough outing)
"We're just going to have to play much better. I know Atlanta probably looked at that game, and they love to run the ball. The first game they didn't have too much success but they've been rolling lately and after Monday they're probably licking their chops. But we love a challenge."
DT CHRIS HOVAN
(On his status for the Falcons game)
“I’m just going to keep getting treatment, keep trying to get myself ready to play this weekend. That’s my mentality, is to just get ready to play.”
(Could he see himself not playing?)
“My mentality is to play everyday. We’re going to work out this week, and whatever Coach Gruden feels, he feels.”
(Does he have a brace, or anything protective?)
“No, [my leg] just got rolled up on the back of a pile, and that’s just the way football is. You get in the bottom of the pile, hopefully you’re the first one out, and if not, who knows? We’re just going to attack, and hopefully be ready to go this weekend.”
(On lessons learned from loss at Carolina)
“I can only speak defensively, but defensively, we’ve got to be fundamentally sound in our gaps; given the opportunity, we have to wrap up and tackle. Those two guys in Carolina are two great backs, and the guys in Atlanta are two great backs. The onus is to wrap and tackle. We missed way too many tackles in the Monday night game; very unlike us, very unlike Buc football. So we know what we did wrong; we’re not going to get down because this is just an important game this weekend. So we have to get ready for the challenge, and the challenge is a three-headed monster with [QB Matt Ryan] and those two running backs.”
G DAVIN JOSEPH
(On the Falcons’ defense)
“Of course they have some up-and-coming stars on offense and some guys who really have emerged, but their defense has been playing awesome. They’ve been playing fast, they’ve been playing physical and it’s going to be a tough challenge for us.”
(On struggles on the road)
“It’s hard to put a finger on it, really. You know, if it’s one thing one week, it’s another thing another week, and in this past week we just weren’t able to keep up with the points. We had some opportunities to put points on the board, and we failed to, so we really didn’t help our defense out enough. You look at games in the past, and it could be turnovers that could be the issue, and penalties could be the issue. So it’s a different thing from week to week, and that will happen on the road, that will happen at home. So it’s hard to put a finger on why we’re not as consistent on the road as we need to be.”
(On having a chance to clinch a playoff berth on Sunday)
“I hate the scenarios. I hate to look too far in advance. All I know is we’ve got to win out. We’re going to try to win every game down the stretch and hopefully that’ll put us in the position we need to be in.”
(On only needing a win and a Dallas/Philadelphia loss to earn a wildcard spot)
“Well, I don’t like to play the scenario game. I’m just focused on this Sunday. I’m not trying to focus on what everybody else is doing. If we focus on our game we’ll be fine.”
DT RYAN SIMS
(Did Carolina have a better scheme?)
“I have no idea actually. Like I said, if we make the tackles, we don’t have to worry about the schemes.”
(On having a different role in the Carolina game)
“That’s one thing about this defense around here: you get a lot of work, a lot of chances to get in shape out here. That’s the way we run in practice, in heat, so definitely my wind was not a factor.”
DE GREG WHITE
(On putting the Carolina game behind them)
"I think it was a really good humbling experience, on national television. But we'll bounce back. That's what we do. We'll keep it moving."
(On if the issue was fundamentals)
"I'm hoping that's the worst game we'll play. At least we got it out of the way now rather than us going further. It was good for us."
(On if tackling problems spread)
"It's just fundamentals, missed tackles, stuff like that. We've just got to go back to the drawing board, go back to the lab and get it fixed, ASAP. ASAP."
(On Atlanta's offense)
"They've got two really good backs, one great back in Michael Turner, and Matt Ryan is coming along really well. He's a student of the game and we've got our work cut out for us this week, too. We'll see how it goes."