TAMPA, Fla. – Here’s what Falcons coach Raheem Morris had to say after the 31-26 win over the Buccaneers on Sunday:
On the win over the Buccaneers: “Good day, good win. The guys battled until the end. It’s always great to get away with a division win. We talk about ‘outrun the South’ and the guys have absolutely bought in to what we want to do. It’s nice to take a nice lead like that. To be able to start out next week, make the corrections we’ve got to go make out there and keep getting the results we want. I’m really fired up about what we did today.”
On the strong start to the game: “When I talk about those things, I always talk about execution. I mainly talk about my preparation and what I want to do for the guys and how we want to be able to practice those guys to get those guys to play faster. Obviously, we started off fast, getting the big turnover there, creating a short field and able to start with a 7-0 lead. That is huge and I definitely like how we started better, today. It was absolutely outstanding.”
On whether he changed his approach after the early 7-0 lead: “I don’t. I think it’s a learning process as you go through the season, on where you’re at. You’ve got to be honest with the guys [about] where you’re at. You’ve got to be honest with the guys [about] what you want to do. You’ve got to be honest with the guys on how you want to do it, right? And it’s not just me talking to the guys – it’s an organizational following on how we want to approach these things, how we approach these games, how we want to try to go get wins. So, the guys understand clearly. The message is clear every single week and it goes through everybody, man. Everybody gets it. Everybody knows what we want to do and how we want to go accomplish it. And when you’re able to go out there and do it, it’s nice.”
On where the team is right now: “We’re on to the next game, man. The 1-0 mentality. We’ve got a tough team coming in next week. We’ve got to get ready to fight again at our place and it’d be nice to get some wins at home.”
On the final play of the game: “Where was I at? I was on the sideline, way back. I was really comfortable with the process knowing what was going on in the headsets. Us talking about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to box them out and how we’re going to get those guys on the ground and make sure the proper jumper was jumping and all those types of things. And actually, I was looking at that big giant in the middle of the field in [Cade Otton] as he was standing in the middle of the endzone, he kind of got out of the back of the endzone and it was thrown out the back.”
On getting separation at the top of the division: “I’m kind of even keeled, as you know… I’m really even keeled when it comes to those things. Stats are for losers, as we know. It’s all grey matter when it comes to those things and separation from where you’re at. It’s about where you want to go, right? We talked about the race to 10, and we learned those lessons… we learned those lessons the hard way. We’ve got to go out there and keep applying pressure and keep going and that’s got to be the mentality in Atlanta.”
On the status of RG Chris Lindstrom: “Yeah, I know he was cleared to come back. It didn’t make sense at that point in the game to put him back out there, so he was cleared to come back in and [it was a] coach’s decision to leave him out the rest of the game.”
On QB Kirk Cousins’ long scramble: “I’m throwing a pool party. I’m really excited. When you butt heads in the offseason it’s protecting our team, it’s protecting our assets, it’s protecting everything that we want to have for these moments. Once you get into the game and we clear guys to go out there and be as healthy as they can possibly be, we are absolutely ecstatic for those guys to be able to move the chains the way [Kirk did]. He looked like Patrick Mahomes out there, man. It was outstanding.”
On the leadership of S Jessie Bates III: “I say it all the time – he’s the Defensive Player of the Year, in my opinion. I’m a little bit [biased] on that one because I watch him play every single day and every single week and [know] how he studies and how he approaches the game. But for him to get another punchout, for him to get another interception, for him to continue to show up in the biggest moments when you’re not playing as well or how you want to play exactly on defense. Man, he’s unbelievable. He’s a freak.”
On what he said to TE Kyle Pitts after his second touchdown which got reviewed to see if he crossed the goal line before losing the ball: “Again, I’m going to repeat [what I said] a couple of weeks ago – that’s none of your business.”
On what he saw out of TE Kyle Pitts today: “Energetic. [He was] playing the right way, other than the one almost lapse of his mind, but that’s how you want Kyle to play. You want him to be able to play fast, you want him to be able to play physical. He’s bigger, he’s faster, he’s stronger and I’ve got to give my coaches credit for finding ways to utilize him more and more every single week. [I’ve got to give] the kid credit for finding ways to go out there and be as productive as he possibly can be and I’m so proud of just that constant growth that we’re doing. It’s the growth mindset that we’ve been talking about all season.”
On whether he feared the defense would have a letdown this week: “No. That three-headed monster [the Buccaneers] have in the backfield is something to deal with. And they showed that today, they showed and proved [it], whether they’re catching the ball, whether they’re running the football. They started off hot with the run. They were able to get the ball to those guys on some screens – they’re electric. They’re dynamic. They’ve got a first-round [caliber] receiver in [Jalen] McMillan that always opens things up for those young guys when they get a chance to go out there and play. And we were able to get away with the win today. They put up a lot of yards. They’re going to move the ball. Baker [Mayfield] is a baller. Let’s just call it what it is, right? He’s going to go out there and find ways to do it. And he thrives in those moments when his guys are gone. That’s just who he is. I mean I met him on a Thursday, and he came in and got a win for us in L.A. He walked in, met the guys, like, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ and went out there and won a game. That’s outstanding. That’s who he is.”
On WR KhaDarel Hodge’s play to stop the fake punt attempt: “Outstanding. It is, absolutely, no doubt. We talked about it earlier in the week – ownership and all of us – we talked about how we had to win this football game. And the games that we’ve won, we’ve made significant plays on special teams. It was part of our ‘What it Takes’ this week and that is definitely that type of play. That’s a turnover, so to speak. We talked about the touchdown that we had earlier in the season that he had, we talked about the blocked punt or the muffed punt, whatever it is. In all of those games that we make those types of plays, those significant plays, you get wins, and [it was] no different today.”
On the status of DL Ruke Orhorhoro: “I don’t. I’ve got to figure it out on Ruke… He was out. Bassity (Vice President of Communications David Bassity) is the knowledge of all… there you go.”
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