Q&A: Matt Ryan says offense needs to pick it up in practice
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) calls signals during first quarter NFL preseason football action against the Miami Dolphins in Miami, Friday, Aug. 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
MIAMI – Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was frustrated with the offense’s performance against the Dolphins.
In perhaps his most controversial statement in his young career, he said the players need to pick it up in practice and do a better job of getting on the same page.
Despite the need for picking it up practice, Ryan also felt like the offense is ready for the regular season.
Here’s what he had to say after the 16-6 victory over Miami on Friday.
Q: How do you think it went for you guys out there tonight?
A: ”There were some things we did pretty well, but for the most part I think we had seven possessions in the first half and we came away with just 10 points. That’s a little bit frustrating. We were close. It’s something that we need to iron out in practice. We need to do a better job of being on the same page in practice. Being a little bit more productive there. With that said, I think we’ve been really productive this preseason. . . I feel like we’re ready to go.”
Q: How tough was it not to hook up on that one play were it looked like you had Roddy open for a sure touchdown?
A: “That’s a perfect example. With that particular play, we were close. But in this league, close doesn’t count for much. You have to go out there and you have to execute. That’s something we need to do a better job of heading into the regular season. I think we will. We still have a little bit of time before we go up to Pittsburgh and play that first game. I think the most important thing is that we are playing our best football when we get to the regular season.”
Q: Is good for the offense that you got Harry Douglas back involved with four catches today?
A: I think it was good for Harry to get back tonight and have a couple of catches. We have seen that every day in practice. He’s been out there and has been really productive. This was the first time in a game that he had a chance to go out there and play an extended period of time. It’s going to be huge to have him back. He’s definitely going to be a huge part of our offense.”
Q: How gratifying was that second drive, where you converted on three third downs and scored a touchdown?
A: To be honest with you, I think our third downs were good all night. We were very good on third down tonight. (10 of 19, 53 percent) The problem is that we were in quite a few third downs. We need to be better on first and second down. I personally needed to do a lot better on first and second down. Those are the things we can correct. That’s the beauty of the preseason. You’ve got a chance to iron out some of those things and sure that when we do get to the regular season, we’re playing at full steam.
Q: How comforting is it knowing that you can power the ball at teams in short yardage situations?
A: That’s good. That’s a big part of what we do. We’ve got a really good offensive line and power running backs. Mike (Turner), Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood do a great for us of getting downhill on third and short situations. That’s kind of where our identity is. We like to be a physical football team. If you are going to be that kind of team you have to execute in those type of situations. I think we’ve done a really good job of that this preseason.
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129 comments Add your comment
Red_Rarri84
August 28th, 2010
2:50 pm
Matt is only in his 3rd yr ppl chill. I dont expect him to be elite this yr or even nxt yr. I just hope he gets there. Most elite QBs have time to develop behind a QB so of course he is goin to struggle a little. I like to see him scim the the field and throwing accurate passes.Also stop using Gonzo and Roddy as safety nets. When he starts to show patience in the pocket, great decision making, and accurate passes then we will be a super bowl team till then its just false hope.
ryan
August 28th, 2010
3:47 pm
I thought the defence look great Spoon is going to be a nightmare for opposing QBs Mike Peterson picking up where he left off positive side is the D .
old dawg
August 28th, 2010
3:47 pm
Everything is played close to the vest in Pre season , preseason means squat, most of you people are either 12 or have never played a game of football in your life, or maybe just plain stupid rednecks
DHunt
August 28th, 2010
4:39 pm
Falcons fans (and I am a 35+ year fan) have earned the right to be hard on the team. It’s been damn hard on us to be and remain fans. Ryan needs to improve and so do a lot of the rest of the team (WR, DB, OL).
Defense won the game last night, but how many people thought the Falcons would be winning a lot of games 10-3, 16-6, or some other low score based on defense being dominant? Not a one of us who wants to be honest. So that’s a very good sign for the defense. The LB corps is looking great, the D-Line is stepping up and that’s why Miami couldn’t run at all last night. Other than Chevis (who might have lost his spot on the team last night) the DB’s looked decent. Coleman should have picked that first ball in the red zone when he jumped in front of the TE, but that’s better than being totally out of position like we were too many times last year.
And some of y’all must have A.D.D. EVERYONE has been looking forward to the 3rd preseason game. Everyone knows that the 3rd preseason game is the one where the starters are supposed to show what they’ve got. Last preseason game they might not get 5 snaps. What we have seen of them in game situations is all we are likely to see until the regular season. Now all of a sudden, because MR2 and the offense doesn’t look like the world beaters everyone expected them to be, we have to make excuses for them?. Not me. I’ll continue to call it like I see it thanks very much.
Mike10
August 28th, 2010
5:24 pm
Matt looks a little uncomfortable in the pocket at times and doesnt take his time and deliver an accurate throw that pass to Roddy was a good example he must improve his deep throws so this team can take the next step.
dilla
August 28th, 2010
6:00 pm
The deep ball that went to Roddy was a catchable ball, it went right through his hands. Then he bobbled another pass that would have been a first down.
Not sure what to make of the defense. They looked good but look at the competition.
marcus
August 28th, 2010
6:15 pm
i don’t think theres anything wrong with ryan realy i think theres a player or two on the o line i’m not going to say any names that are over rated the play calling is week the need for a real number two wr was far over looked by the staff maybe the birds would have looked better if jenkins was in thats a maybe the o did look better with douglas back ryan had roddy ,tony, and harry things did look better i was mad about the plays not being mixed up good enough
SAINTS LSU
August 28th, 2010
6:30 pm
@ Truth the saints has scored 91 points in three preseason games Green Bay has not before you put Green Bay in the superbowl the champ gonna be a tuff out
SAINTS LSU
August 28th, 2010
6:38 pm
@ Truth (Pats 27 Saints 24) (Houston 20 Saints 31) (Chargers 21 Saints 36) the Saints still has a top 5 offense & maybe a top 10 D
PlanB
August 28th, 2010
6:45 pm
@ Chris and anyone else who gets channel 212 on Directv. I have recorded all the Falcon preseason games only a few hours after it was played live. Next weeks game can be recorded Saturday, Sept. 4th on channel 212 at 7:00 AM. DVR’s are wonderful. I got this info from another post on this blog. Thanks for that. I missed all the preseason games last year and the one before after moving out of the area.
Living in Carolina, seems they are not doing too good this preseason. First 2 games they got only 3 FG’s and no TD’s. They allowed 11 sacks.
Miami Dolphins’ Offense Sputters In Loss to Falcons – Bleacher Report - Miami Dolphins
August 28th, 2010
6:47 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
truth
August 28th, 2010
7:32 pm
LSU, I don’t give a flying floozy fart what your pre-season scores are……moron. Go spread some pimple cream on your face and go to bed.
truth
August 28th, 2010
7:33 pm
The Packers will clean the field with the aints. They will not hand the game to you like Farve-a-Donna did.
truth
August 28th, 2010
7:35 pm
Come back when the Vikes/aints game is over with in a few weeks. The Vikes D is ready for a litle revenge. You better say your voodoo prayer the sleez, I mean Brees, don’t get hurt.
hiramsaint
August 28th, 2010
8:10 pm
the saints had 553 yds. total O against a 13-3 chargers team and held matthews to 3.3 yds per carry plus our backup qb threw 3 td’s against the texans last week. bring on ‘dem turdy birds!
hiramsaint
August 28th, 2010
8:12 pm
sorry – forgot to say congrats to the 1st team O for finding the endzone finally last night even if it was only once. your punter got a good workout though!
D. Orlando Ledbetter
August 28th, 2010
8:31 pm
The replay is on WATL — Falcons vs. Miami.
ryan
August 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
Don’t forget about the Madden Jinks Saints fans Brees is on the cover .
hiramsaint
August 29th, 2010
3:47 am
if you’ve seen daniels play the madden jinx is irrelevant with an O as prolific as ours. bring on ‘dem turdy birdz
NES
August 29th, 2010
11:02 am
Ok Reggie, you win on the Montana quote, all i was trying to state is he had Jerry Rice,we have Roddy White, we should have had a big time receiver by now to play opposite of R.White. Let’s face it, throwing deep is just a part of the offense, it is about play calling and mixing up the plays so defense can’t sit and know what is coming, that is Coach Smith and Mularky’s doing. Mularky will be gone after this year as personnel doesn’t match up with a power running team.
This Gets Old
August 29th, 2010
11:43 am
It’s funny…aren’t these the same WR’s who helped Matt Ryan become ROY?
I think they are. Didn’t Mike Smith say prior to the 2009 season that Matt had to work on his accuracy? I think he did. Some of you guys act like Matt Ryan walks through your door and runs up to you, gives you a kiss and asks, “Honey, how was your day?”
I think Matt Ryan was speaking about himself. I can’t see an intelligent QB throwing his WR’s under the bus. That would be suicide.
NorthFlaFalcon
August 29th, 2010
11:58 am
I think what Ryan is saying is that his receivers need to get over the dropsies. I don’t think Ryan threw a bad ball in the first half. Roddy dropped at least 4 good passes. Give credit to Vontae Davis, who played good “D”. Ryan is very predictable but he’s also very accurate. The “d” often seems to know where he is going to throw it so they defend it (check Roddy — then Gonzalez). He threw a lot of picks at BC and he continues to throw some in the NFL. But he is also very accurate, he is able to stick it in the one spot where you can make a play on it. The running game looked good. It was very vanilla, I’d like to see more screens and creative running plays where we can spring Norwood or Turner downhill. Sometimes it seems like Pat Peppler is back again, calling those runs up the middle!
todd
August 29th, 2010
12:41 pm
Here’s what I see as a little bit of a problem with the Falcon’s offense. They move the ball pretty well but theres not enough big play ability there, no game breakers. Roddy White is a decent player but you need more. Turner is a 3 yard and a cloud of dust guy, Jenkins is a possession type guy. It takes a lot of plays for us to score and when you don’t get any easy scores eventually on a drive your team will stall out. Which is what happens to the Birds. Does anyone else see this?
isproab
August 29th, 2010
1:43 pm
How quickly some of you forget. Didn’t Chevis Jackson have two plays where he batted the ball down? I don’t recall him getting the flag on either of those plays. I know William Moore got flagged on one of the plays that Chevis batted down the ball. Granted, he missed 2 or 3 tackles, but as I saw it he was up and down, and good enough to make the team.
For those that think Ryan is just middle of the road, give him time. How quickly we forget how long it took Drew Brees to become a good QB. Ryan is actually better in years 1 and 2 than Brees was in years 2 and 3. Brees basically had the luxury of sitting for most of his first year.
ryan
August 29th, 2010
5:38 pm
Antionio Bryant is available .
hiramsaint
August 29th, 2010
5:59 pm
isproab- now is now and this is a what are you doing for me now world. the luxury would be to sit ryan this year and play wilson or redman but arty won’t go for his money man not playing tho he doesn’t seem to mind robinson sitting out and drawing a nice check for nothing
isproab
August 29th, 2010
8:49 pm
Hiramsaint,
What are you talking about? Nobody is sitting Ryan. The right guy is starting for this team. My only point was that Brees didn’t have to play in year one. I believe it helps a QB to sit a year and watch when you are talking about going from college to the NFL.
That’s over and done with, yet, Ryan still has been better in his first two years as a starter than a QB that people wanted to give up on but everybody agrees in now top 3 or 4 in the NFL. Careers are not made in the preseason or in your first two years. Ryan is headed in the right direction and he will be fine.
Once "Recent" Reader
August 29th, 2010
9:43 pm
isproab . . . .yeah I was kind of confused by hiramsaints comment about sitting Ryan this year. Either he is trying to get us going . . . . .or . . .I really can’t say anything nice for the other option.
DR. FALCON
August 30th, 2010
1:16 am
MATT IS MAKING BIG BOY MONEY! HES IN THE 3RD YEAR OF A 6YR 72 MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT AS THE LEADER OF THIS TEAM, IM GLAD HE HAS SPOKEN UP AND SHOWN SOME GUTS TO EXPRESS HIS DISPLEASURE. QBS NEED TO SHOW SOME FIRE! IF HE GETS CRITICIZED FOR HIS COMMENTS, SO BE IT. THIS IS NOT BOSTON COLLEGE! SOMEBODY NEEDS TO LIGHT A FIRE INTO THIS OFFENSE. WHY NOT MATT?! THE SEASON IS FAST APPROACHING. WE HAVE TO MUCH SKILL ON THAT SIDE OF THE BALL TO BE FLOUNDERING! AND PEOPLE WANT TO CUT THE PRE-SEASON DOWN TO 2 GAMES? WHATEVER! WE NEED MORE TIME!