What Matt Ryan had to say after the loss
By D. Orlando Ledbetter , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here's what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the 19-7 loss tot he Redskins:
On his performance this preseason: "It felt good. I feel like I'm in a good place heading into this season. My body feels great. I really feel like I got good work these past two weeks. I think it's valuable this time of the year to get feeling good in the pocket and to get that pass rush around you to get comfortable with your eyes down the field. I thought I was able to accomplish that the last two weeks. I feel really good about where I'm at and with the health of our offense and where those guys are at."
On cleaning up mistakes: "There were probably a few too many. There were a few too many little things that we can do better at such as assignments and those kind of things. There's still work to do. We've got two and a half weeks to go before we start the regular season. There's still a lot of things to clean up but I feel we were a little bit better tonight."
On the offense's performance: "I thought we ran the ball nicely. I can't remember but it's probably been a little while since we had a drive where we scored a touchdown only throwing one pass. That was good to see off the turnover. We ran the ball maybe four or five times. Each of those runs were effective. I thought the offensive line did a nice job in that first half of getting some things opened up and running the football."
On his playing time during preseason games: "I've always probably only played about a half. Maybe a series more or a series less. It's more so the play count they have for you going out there. I feel good about it. I feel like my preparation is in a good place and I'm comfortable and ready to go. There's still an opportunity for guys to showcase what they can do in the second half and try to make this team."
On Ito Smith: "He looks great. He was so productive for us last year. He battled through injuries last year too and played uncomfortable a lot of the year but played very well. He's going to be dangerous. He's a really good change up for us. Behind Free [Devonta Freeman] he's a reliable guy that you can count on in the run and pass game. He'll stick his neck in there and he'll pass protect. He's kind of a swiss army knife. He does a little bit of everything for us."
D. Orlando Ledbetter
D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq is the award-winning Atlanta Falcons beat writer for the newspaper, has been on the staff since 2003. Every day D. Orlando strives to provide inside in the Falcons and the NFL. He finds the most joy in providing insight into the team, the coaching moves, the offseason business moves, the draft and the games.
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