Ray Edwards not pleased with his first outing
PITTSBURGH – Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards did not have a tackle or a sack in his debut against the Steelers on Saturday.
Here’s what he had to say after the game:
ON PLAYING AFTER MISSING THE FIRST TWO GAMES: It felt good. I’m trying to get the cobwebs off. I have to get my legs back underneath me. I’m going to study the tape and see what I need to work on.
ON THE PASS RUSH: It felt good. We got some good pressure, but there are some other things we need to work on. We have to get more pressure, get more sacks and get more quarterbacks down.
ON HIS PLAY: I don’t know if they were too happy with my performance today, but I’m going back to the drawing board to see what I can do.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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100 comments Add your comment
Runner-
August 28th, 2011
1:48 pm
As well he should be
Joe11
August 28th, 2011
2:19 pm
Guys, take a chill pill, its preseason, plus we didnt have our #1 CB on the field
ECB
August 28th, 2011
2:29 pm
Regardless of the score, the Falcons did some things well last night. The missed on three TDs which they will likely convert in the regular season. Julio will drop a pass occassionally (and that was not an easy catch), but he will also make a ton of big plays. Both interceptions were freak plays. Had Meier not fallen down on the last intercepion, the Falcons would likely have scored and been in a position to tie the game even after missing on the earlier TDs. The pass rush was better (but Big Ben is at his most dangerous when flushed out of the pocket). They still need another cornerback (If Grimes were 6 feet instead of 5′10″, he would have made both those plays), and the GM should not settle for what they have on the mistaken impression that all of a sudden Owens and Franks will start to play better. I believe this team will go 12-4 or 11-5. Way to early to speculate on the playoffs.
Bully Schiznitz
August 28th, 2011
3:14 pm
Do watchin dem preseason game makes u wanna watch diss team ? Nots me.
Bully Schiznitz
August 28th, 2011
3:25 pm
Rey need to learn how 2 plays betta
falcon fan 4 eva
August 28th, 2011
3:45 pm
itz only preseason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we will be prepared when the offense and defense play a whole game thaat counts
Long suffering fan
August 28th, 2011
4:18 pm
Who cares if Ray Edwards is not “pleased” with his performance…..the fans are the ones who are not “pleased” with his performance. Kroy Beirman has got to be LHAO on the sidelines.
PMC
August 28th, 2011
4:33 pm
It was Edwards first game back. He was ok. He’ll be fine.
Matt Bosher though, still not justifying the draft pick. Not in the least. I don’t understand why he was drafted there and I probably never will.
The secondary needs help it’s obvious they need to find another veteran. The young guys aren’t getting it quickly enough.
panic fan
August 28th, 2011
5:15 pm
ok so ray finally gets to play 1st game action since last yr
and yea he did not do anything BIG so what! The fact that we came back from 10 pts down against steelers D tells me we will be fine this yr Like most fans here not to worried about the players its the cordinators that seem to be on the bubble.
hiramsaint
August 28th, 2011
5:54 pm
did edwards ever find that contact lens he was looking for on the turf all night?
DZ
August 28th, 2011
6:08 pm
So this is the big off-season defense improvement, huh?
KQuark
August 28th, 2011
6:22 pm
I love the Nostradumbarses out there with the bold predictions. Will you come correct when the Falcons make the playoffs again. I doubt it.
Get Robinson and Peters back and Edwards up to full speed and guess what? The D is better than last year.
Chandler going Deep..
August 28th, 2011
6:26 pm
“realitycheck
August 28th, 2011
3:06 pm
Way too much hype for a regime with an 0-2 playoff record. The defense is mediocre at best against the good offenses/teams. That 13-3 was a tribute to an easy schedule(NFC West), a lot of breaks, great health, and a bunch of overachieving. Green Bay exposed that defense and it’s not close to being fixed. With no repeat division champ in NFC South history, the Falcons may be lucky to even get a wild card. I see 10-6 at the best and very possibly worse.”
Its just practice man? Practice???
Chandler going Deep..
August 28th, 2011
6:28 pm
Mr. Blank=Al Davis- the 1 lone SuperBowl win…………………Yawn………………..
The streak will continue… 0-45 SB’s
Chandler going Deep..
August 28th, 2011
6:35 pm
“A Complete Blank
August 28th, 2011
11:10 am
Falcants 8-8
A. Blanks Legacy:
1) Fired only coach to take Falcons to a Super Bowl
2) Hired THREE STRAIGHT HEAD COACHES WITH ZERO HEAD EXPERIENCE AT THE NFL LEVEL!
3) No stadium deal!!!”
BRILLIANT!! Them Homies are delusional……..U think??
Demarco
August 28th, 2011
7:19 pm
Like I said earlier when free agency started, the falcons also needed to sign another vetern cornerback. They should have went after Carlos Rodgers from Washington, or Lito Shephard. I also think that if Richard Marshall, Cornerback from Carolina is available then they should go after him because he has size anf has good cover skills. The falcons are a good cornerback away from being a great team in my opinion.
Tony B
August 28th, 2011
7:20 pm
Sure the Falcons need to get better. But keep in mind: 1) Dunta Robinson hasn’t played for 2 games now. It is possible that his replacement that has been playing may move to nickel or that our nickelback isn’t even currently on the team. 2) The game would have been much closer without the terrible special teams play & interceptions thrown by both QB’s.
Grimes made some bad plays last night,but he led our team in INT’s last year & made the Pro Bowl. He’ll get it figured out quickly. OL still has it’s ups & downs until they name the new starter. Also, I’m sure we have a lot better plays in the playbook than what we’ve done in the Pre-Season. All teams try to be really basic & vanilla on both sides of the ball in the Pre-Season.
Just sayin'
August 28th, 2011
8:55 pm
It looked to me like we should have gotten Brown instead of Jones nad the kickoff man #5 Waters instead of Bosher.
Jay Cool 4daBirds
August 28th, 2011
9:09 pm
You Fake Falcons fans and Falcon haters really humor me. How can you say that our secondary will cost us games? They are the same guys from last year who caught all those interceptions. On the 1st TD pass Grimes was there, Decoud just took a bad angle. On the second one Grimes just barely missed the ball, but they are not getting left in the wind. The pass rush has elevated, when Robinson gets back the Falcons will not give up too many yards or points. Look for them to be a top 10 defense this year, if not top 5.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
9:48 pm
We were ranked top 5 in both points allowed and points scored in the NFL last season and we are clearly a better team this year than last. I am not worried at all. But, I wouldn’t mind another veteran CB.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:10 pm
This filter is horrible
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:11 pm
Why is the word r i d i c u l o u s filtered?
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:22 pm
BTW different teams use the preseason in different ways. Some teams play them like regular games. Some teams use them to evaluate their team in different situations.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:23 pm
They see them as scrimmages and not games. Our staff was trying to evaluate pass protection against a 3-4 defense last night.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:32 pm
Any way, for those of you who think we were out there trying our best to win this game, you are wrong. You don’t throw the ball 42 t i m e s in a half if you are trying to win. Smith used the Steelers as a tool to evaluate our protection against a 3-4 because we don’t have the ability to really do that in camp. He was also using this to see who he wants to start at guard. Will you trolls go away now.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:39 pm
Move along, nothing to see here but a pathetic troll.
SeenThisB4
August 28th, 2011
10:47 pm
Still green with envy?
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:50 pm
Still dumb? You don’t have to answer that. Its kind of obvious.
SeenThisB4
August 28th, 2011
10:54 pm
Personal insults. That’s all you got….and as boring as Chris Collinsworth. Yawn!
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
10:56 pm
Sorry, I am waiting on someone who actually knows something about football to converse with. If I want to converse with idiots I will go on the aint’s board and watch them celebrate beating the raiders lol.
CFB Fan
August 28th, 2011
10:58 pm
Seen this b4…. Where were you after the SEACHICKENS whipped the Aints Arse last year?!?!?!? If I remember correctly, you NEVER came back to a Falcons blog after that loss…. Im just saying…
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
11:00 pm
Seriously, it will make this blog so much better if we just ignore them. They add nothing to the conversation. The only reason why you would come to a newspaper blog of a rival team in the preseason is if your mommy didn’t love you and you need attention.
SeenThisB4
August 28th, 2011
11:00 pm
It’s all right dude. I understand, only real idiots believe their team didn’t try to win their third pre-season game. By the way, it’s not 1998 either! LOL!!
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
11:05 pm
See, again it shows you know nothing about football. That is why you bore me. You aren’t even a good troll. There has NEVER been a game where someone threw 42 passes in a half. Smith said they did that on purpose to evaluate pass protection against a 3-4 which is something the guys haven’t seen much in camp. If you cannot understand that concept, then really there is nothing I can do to help you. You need to try harder.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
11:07 pm
You should be more worried that the only game you guys have looked good in were against teams with new coaching staffs, new offense and defense schemes, and missing several starters on defense.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
11:08 pm
I bet aints fans haven’t even made that connection yet.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
11:14 pm
I am actually glad that our coaching staff is using these games to really focus in on key areas rather than just go out there and play a regular game. It has never made any sense to me to play it like a regular game when you know the other team isn’t showing all their plays. I think it gives you a false sense of security. I would rather focus on our players and use the other team as a tool to put our players in positions I need to see them in. Smith actually manipulates other teams into testing our players how he wants them to be tested which I think is pretty brilliant.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
11:16 pm
For instance, by throwing 42 passes, Pitt had to use a lot more pass defense plays than they probably were wanting to use. This allowed Smith to see the line against a lot of different looks. It is a really good coaching move.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 28th, 2011
11:17 pm
And, knowing that we were purposely putting the O line in challenging situations, the fact that they only gave up one sack really impresses me.
Tyrone Shulaces
August 29th, 2011
12:00 am
My grandmothers knitting circle would shred this secondary
ric fish
August 29th, 2011
1:29 am
good luck atlanta with ray(i only play for a new contract) edwards look for a lots of talk no action year from him.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
August 29th, 2011
7:34 am
Tyrone Shulaces — Nice line.
SCFalcon
August 29th, 2011
8:08 am
How is it that we all can see the glaring problems at CB, and VanGorder can’t? Seriously, we need to make a move for some veteran help at Corner. I love Mike Smith, but sticking with VanGorder and Mularkey will be his downfall….
hiramsaint
August 29th, 2011
4:19 pm
@ don’t feed- did ray edwards find that contact lens he was searching for on the field sat. night? hehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Jim
August 29th, 2011
5:40 pm
I didn’t notice Ray until he was on the ground with a Steeler lineman on top of him for that second TD by Brown. Not a good start at all, but sure he will be okay once he get up on the speed of the game and his legs under him.
panic fan
August 29th, 2011
6:22 pm
so who will be avail oc and dc for next yr we can start talking now about who mr blank need to go get for this team of all pro
players to make the RISE UP to win in the playoffs I feel as if
we have players now its on the coaches to yes RISE UP DAMIT !!!
lower case b
August 29th, 2011
8:29 pm
Outside of McClure, which seems minor, the Falcons are probably the healtiest they have been in 2 seasons.
I think teams that have a familiar roster, didn’t need wholesale changes, and are healthy, will have an edge on the rest of the league, especially early. The Falcons are one of those teams.
hiramsaint
August 29th, 2011
9:00 pm
don’t fret over edwards…i seem to recall that he was the missing piece that will take you to the superbowl.hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
G DOG
August 30th, 2011
12:22 am
Did anyone see Ray E. grab his knee beside me. One play as he was rushing the QB he grab his knee an fell to the ground. No one is talking about it.
DR. FALCON
August 30th, 2011
12:45 am
DON’T PANIC PEOPLE! IT’S STILL PRESEASON! BUT, THEN AGAIN, WHO THE HELL IS ANTONIO BROWN? WHERE IS DEION SANDERS AND RAY BUCHANAN, WHEN YOU NEED THEM? HELP!!