Falcons’ in-game quotes for exhibition opener

080912 ATLANTA: Matt Ryan (from left), Roddy White and Julio Jones take the field for a first quarter offensive series against the Raven at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Thursday, August 9, 2012. CURTIS COMPTON / CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

On the first few drive:
“I thought the first couple of drives, especially the first drive; we got out to a good rhythm. We were in the no huddle in the first series, and it was good for us to work that package. We made some mistakes, but we did some good things, too. There’s going to be a lot for us to improve on, but it’s a very good start.”

On his overall play:
“To start with improvements, obviously you can’t have any turnovers; that’s just poor play in the red zone. That’s something I have to be better at, and can’t take points off the board. But I’m just happy to see guys being on the same page. We’ve worked hard this offseason to really work on route adjustments, and offensive line calls, and different protection calls. Tonight we were pretty [much] in sync, so it’s a good start for us.”

DUNTA ROBINSON

On the defense:
“We have the opportunity to be a great defense if we continue to come out here and work, stay focused, and buy into what coach [Mike] Smith has us doing, we can be a great defense. So we’re just going to keep working on that, keep playing hard, and we’re going to try to come out here and keep making plays.”

On the third down defense:
“Our third down defense has been an issue for us the past few years, so we wanted to come out here right away and set the tone on third down, and get off the field because it’s critical. We wanted to put them in third and long situations. The averages are always on your side when you can put a team in third and long situations. We just felt good. It felt like we were clicking on all cylinders out there.”

Baltimore head coach JOHN HARBAUGH

On the first half:
“It was obvious in the first that we have a lot of things to work on. Really, we need to be better on offense, defense and special teams. There were times we played like Ravens, but we were not consistent.”

Baltimore quarterback JOE FLACCO

On their TD drive:
“It’s preseason, and it took us a little while to get going. We’ve got to look back at some of those plays and miscues, because the Falcons got a couple good pressures. We completed the passes early on, but they weren’t quite enough yards for us to stay on the field. There are a lot of things we can do better on third down in terms of recognizing the man coverage and trying to break away a little bit. But on the last drive, it was good to get into a rhythm and get it going a little bit.”

–These quotes were provided by the public relations staffs of the Falcons and the Ravens.

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–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog

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