Head Coach Raheem Morris Week 10 Media Availability | Wednesday, November 5th | Press Conference

Head Coach Raheem Morris Week 10 Media Availability | Wednesday, November 5th | Press Conference

Kendall. Josh gets the Oh, man. That just made you the old man in the room, Josh. That’s exactly what that means. They didn’t say Mark, they said you. And obviously you deferred him, so you would want to call them the old man. And he got the longest drive. That’s a fair point. I I’ll depends on traffic. Oh, no. I I I I I disagree. Matthew Beron, Chris Lance. Um, as far as injuries, you know, um, Matthew, that’ll be a week toe deal. Um, Chris’s day today. Um, feel really good about Chris on his potential. Matthew being more week to week. U, we’ll see how that goes. Um, obviously doesn’t look good for this week. Um, but you never know how these things go, how medical things go. I’m not a doctor, but um, I don’t like to lead you guys on to something that’s not going to happen. There you go. With the with Berseron, it he got he got carded off initially, but then he was back on the sidelines like pretty soon after. Looked like he was trying to, you know, work it out, you know, shake it out to see if it was okay, but he just never did come back. Yeah. just like you’d expect like all these guys, you know, you get hurt in this game and everybody tries to come back and tries to stay out there and then sometimes you got to step in and you make those decisions for him. Um, you know, obviously um he wanted to go try he gave us a great value and attempt but um he wasn’t able to do it and um we had to leave him out that that game. Hinton went in, you know, performed well for us. So um will be intent most likely. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, if if back if Bur can’t go, Hayton’s always been the next man up. He’s been that next man up mentality for us for for a while. You know, he started and played in a couple of games for us um here in within the same system. Been around for a while. It’s the reasons you signed those kind of guys because you got so much trust and belief in those guys to go out there and get it done when you need to get it done. So, you know, more than likely we’ll be out there with him. He uh he went to high school in Germany. Did not know that. Yeah, that’s kind of crazy, right? You learn something about your team every day. That is absolutely outstanding. Did not know that about Hinton. What was it about Andrew Struber that made y’all want to bring him back from maybe last year to now? You know, Stu was one of those guys that we um initially put on our practice squad, you know, got poached off our practice squad. So, we had a lot of affection for, a lot of love. We always talk about those practice squad guys as being potential guys that are on the roster anyway and guys that we can move up. Um, so when this opportunity presented itself and a chance to go back and get a guy that you’re familiar with, that’s familiar with the system, you know, familiar with the culture of that room, the guys, all of that type of stuff. Um, the player, you know, all those things came as a factor. So, being able to get Stubber to come back here and give us a little bit of relief for whatever amount of time that we need and whatever he can do for us is always awesome. Can you talk about the Parker Romano decision and bringing in Zane? You know, Zayn and those guys, they competed the first time when this first happened, I forget, like week two, when they went out there competed, it was a very tight battle. You know, Zayn was the elder statesman and Parker was the younger statesman. We went with the younger statesman. Um gave him a great opportunity and Parker gave us a bunch of really good kicks. Um we missed a kick the other day and u we can’t miss those kicks and we just got to find a way to be more consistent and get some operational piece. Um so we went we chose to go with Zayn and give him an opportunity um to see if he can come in and give us a little more operational piece when it comes to you know kicking and uh all the things that go that goes into that. Did Ben Sals get a look at that opportunity or how did that go? Ben Sals was here with us the last couple of weeks, you know, competing at a high level for us, doing a nice job. Um, so we brought him in again as another young kicker that was a part of that whole process that we went through. Um, he kicked in practice, you know, wasn’t as consistent as it was with Zayn. We saw him in the opportunities that he saw him go in. Um, the experience that Zayn brings in from his time with Washington, some of the other spots that he was able to go to, um, out in San Fran, doing some of the different things that he’s done. So, you know, bringing him back, giving him opportunity this week is something that we look forward to. Are you considering a change of long snap or two or is that more No, that this is that’s a complete personal thing. Um be honest, Josh really didn’t want to talk about it. I had to go talk see him really quickly because I thought it might come up. Um he has a um you know, a pregnancy that’s going on. Um obviously there’s some there’s some there’s some difficulties that’s happening with it and we just don’t know if we’re going to miss something and we’re protecting our team. So um and we’re protecting him and his family and uh his personal uh status. That’s all I really want to say about it, but like it was con strictly done out of um an abundance of caution um to respect our long snapper and his and his wife’s privacy and and all things. And obviously we got to be as public as that. I I hate even talking about that, but um I definitely checked with my guy first before I came up to talk to you guys. Nothing to do now. Yeah, he’s with us. He’s with us. This is something that we are anticipating potentially coming and planning ahead. Uh, but something I don’t even want to talk about, but I knew somebody would ask and uh had to well David Bassy finally did his job, guys. But I ran and caught up to caught up to Liam and just kind of, you know, kind of got to check with him. Him and Ashley, we wish nothing but the best and you know, we we know things going to be fine, but just to make sure that we’re good and all those type of things. What would you say uh worked well on defense in the second half compared to the first half on Sunday? Because I think Elton just three points in the second half. You know, they had a nice beat. They did some good really good things in the first half. You know, they made some big plays. You know, obviously they hit a big play down the sideline in that fringe area where you make those big plays and got a play on us on the sideline on a big time throw by their young quarterback. They came across made a couple big plays um you know across the middle of the field and some of the throws that they made you know some of our manto man coverage and things of that nature where they get some runaways. Um so they made some plays you know I want to take credit from those guys but you know our guys definitely came out made some adjustments you know got us into some some some better situations for us. Was able to get out to the passer and rush the passure. got a little momentum from the two rookies at the end of the half which definitely helped us. Um being able to go out there and really lock in down on the run and do some really good things there, force them into pass situations and put us in a better situation. Our offense woke up, you know, got a chance to make some plays and score some touchdowns, you know, made that game more of a a legit game and a style of play that you want to go out there and play. So, you know, all of those things, you know, combined together made it a really good football game that, you know, we we would have liked to have come out on top. Ronnie Harrison got, you know, I think the most reps he’s gotten so far this season. Yes. How would you assess his performance? Ronnie’s playing really well for us. You know, it was the the steady process that we talked about last week. I think the first week we went out there and we lost Divine. We talked about playing Ronnie. We talked about playing, you know, obviously um also a little bit of dime. Had Jordan Fuller out there. And then, you know, obviously, you know, 40 went out there and we played some really good ball with JD. Um but Ronnie has really earned more reps and more role and it’s kind of been increased since he’s been here. Um, and a lot of credit to Ronnie, you know, a man that’s come here with us from training camp and really increased his role from a practice squad player to a special teams player to now, you know, being out there with that first team defense in some situations and, you know, the way he’s playing is going to do nothing else but increase. Cons messaging for you, you know, throughout some of these losses recently is we got to come in and fix things. What do you guys feel you fixed? You know, um, the one thing I want to talk about really from this last game was the resilience of the team and I thought that was just unbelievable. You know, things go bad in football games and like we had things go bad, whether it be early from Carolina or thing go bad early from the Miami game, whether they’re injuries, whether they’re whatever the case may be, nobody really cares, right? You don’t really care about those those those decisions and those can those those things that you could have out there called excuses. So really what we want to do is go out there and play. And we did not start fast again. Went in the three and out. They went right down and scored and boom, we’re able to find a way to get back into that game, be really resilient, and put oursel back in the game. So like really what I want to give them a lot of credit for is being the resilient team that they were this game. And that was a major part of some things that you got to fix just in football in general, just in sports in general, just in life, right? You don’t want to make a a problem a problem if it’s not a problem. Let’s go out there and play our brand of football. Do those things and try to find ways to get a win. And that’s the most important thing we got to do this week. And to that point, you know, are there things that you’ve seen that have been kind of habitual or consistent that you think early on were an issue and now you guys have correctly addressed them and moved on from them? You know, obviously you talked about it from defense. We talked about our pass rush. That was like the thing coming into the season. So, you’ve been able to fix that problem. You’ve been able to get a chance to get out the quarterbacks. You’ve been able to have some some real success from a bunch of different people. It hadn’t been like just this one breakout guy that just kind of finds a way. It’s been a collective group and how they’ve rushed, you know, how they played, how they’ve done some things. I watched us get better and better throughout the run process and being able to stop the run on defense, do some different things there. you know, I watch us on offense find some some some real levity up front and be able to be consistent there as how we play our offensive line, especially from that, you know, that first game of the season, being able to do it. Yes, you have a disappointing game here or there, but like to watch those guys lead us and how they supposed to lead us. I think that’s been a really good thing. And then obviously the constant growth from Mike and the constant connection that you keep forming from Drake and those type of guys and like we got to get some other people involved. We know that um if we want to do what we want to do. So, just got to find a way to do those things. and then like really consistent part of what we’ve been doing on special teams has been awesome. You know, other than the the clear cut obvious part. I know it’s a business trip for you guys, a different type, you know, going on the road. Is there anything that you’re looking forward to experiencing, you know, when you have some free time or down time? You know, um you’d be lying if you said no. You know, obviously we’re going to very important like Olympic spot, you know, where Jesse Owens, you know, won a gold medal, you know, in front of Hitler. And I mean it’s just it’s just crazy to even think about that that you’re going to play in that same exact stadium and do some of those different things. So just to get a chance to go out to the country in Germany and be a part of this, you know, you know, football going global and doing the things that they talked about years ago. Um and and be able to watch the National Football League be achieve these things was somewhat awesome. So um I look forward to going out there. Um everybody’s going to be miserable, but it is what it is, man. Let’s go embrace this misery and let’s go enjoy it, right? How did you come up with whatever strategy you’re going to use in terms of travel and rest and this is how we’re going to try to peak on Sunday? So, I did not sit in my office and come up on my own, Josh. It’s like one of those things where you talk to as many people as you can. You try to figure out, you talk to many different coaches as you can. You talk to a bunch of different people that are are part of sports science. You talk to a bunch of different people that are part of different things. And I know my sports science people, they talk to everybody, including NASA. When you talk about sleep studies, they talk about how you move, how you travel, what’s the best way to do things, how you hydrate. um from everything that what’s the best way to travel, the best day to go. Um that’s always going to be a disagreement on the best day to go. That’s just what it is. And you got to finalize and make those decisions, you know, so you got to put your finger on something and stamp it with something. Um we chose the days that we did. Um it was all it was all throughout a bunch of discussions with a bunch of different people. Um not just in our building, outside of our building, all over the place. And um we’re going to figure those things out and everybody’s going to have to get used to it because it’s becoming more normal. Colts made I mean probably the biggest splash of on the trade deadline to go out and get Sauce Gardner. Uh yes. How do you game plan for somebody who just dropped right into the lineup like that and what does he do to elevate that defense? Sauce is a G, right? Don’t throw it at the really good football player too much, right? And uh find ways to beat him. Um but you know, like that’s um a great job by those guys going to sign him. Um Sauce is a really good football player. We got a lot of familiar out in his building with him. You know, obviously Break and I were able to call him, congratulate him yesterday. Um he’s excited. He hadn’t gotten there yet, so hopefully he’ll figure out. Doesn’t have a passport. To go back to one of the injuries, um Storm Norton had been a full participant up until last Friday. He did not practice. Did he have a setback there or was that a rest? Yeah, we’ll um we’ll kind of fill you in more there uh as we go as we get more information, you know, obviously gathering, talking to our medical people. So, we’ll get a feel. Um uh but it wasn’t great news. Um it’s something that I don’t I don’t want to speak in all the full medical terms till I talk to our guys about it and what we’re going to do, but so we’ll have to figure that out. into wanting to bring Stuber in at a tackle for sure. You know, you know, Stubbert does a a bunch of different things for us as well. Stub was able to play a little guard, do a little swing swing tackle for us, do a bunch of different things for us. So, like that versatility that Storm provided us, you know, we know we can get some of that stuff from Stuber obviously. What do you see from Daniel Jones just in in terms of where he was last year and in past couple of years and then now what he’s with the highest scoring offense in the NFL? Yeah, I can’t really talk about last year. You know, I played him um a while ago at the Giants. Um it was very early in the season. We played well versus Daniel Jones. I know he was a big- time runner. He can run. He can throw the ball anywhere. He can make all the throws. Was a first round pick. You know, we were highly critical of the pick at the time. Um but he’s showing us right now like why that pick was made and and and really an importance and patience with some of these young quarterbacks to be honest with you. You know, I’m watching him go out there, you know, obviously got a great compliment with the run game, what they’re able to do out there. You know, got with the coach that he wants to be with and has a lot of confidence in him. He’s throwing the ball really well. He’s protecting the football and they’re winning football games and that’s like the most important thing for quarterbacks in this league. So um he’s doing a nice job and u I’m happy for him. It’s kind of the trend right now in the National Football League, right? The bounceback quarterbacks and those guys finding their way. You know, you want him to find a way with you and like give him an opportunity to Jonathan Taylor having a great year. What kind of challenge does he present? He is a monster. Um Jonathan’s been like that since he’s come out. He’s um hate to say deceptively fast. You just say that just because he’s big. Um but he is extremely fast. You know, he gets to the edge and he can make it happen. Um he’s got all the gas. You gota you got to tackle him in population. You got to bring a lot of people to tackle this man. And um he’s one of the better running backs in our football game, if not one of the best arguably. Um but um he’s a lot of he’s a big challenge and um he’s a lot of fun to watch. The um the run game, how did you see it progress Sunday? And obviously you got another big challenge with Indy’s run defense. Yeah, you know, our run game is just it is what it is right now, right? We got to find ways to to get it broken out again and get stuff that we want to get done. You know, we knew um last week the Patriots, like we talked about right after the game, they presented a really big challenge to everybody that running the football. We knew it would be that. Um if we would have found a way to get a couple more those third downs clicked off, we’ have found a way to get our run game going to have been to the point that we wanted to get to. So, we’ve got a little better there as far as how we wanted to go. Um it was a completely different week um from the week before from missing targets and doing some of the things that we wanted to get corrected. We got it corrected, got those things done, played with the right physicality and right intention. Um, we just didn’t get the exact results as you want, but we like the process, like everything about that, and we look forward to going out there and displaying it this week. Right now, I got I’m I’m sorry, Mark. Yes, sir. As you look at, you know, complimentary football, how much is we want to outrush the other team, part of what you That’s a part of it, but it’s more time and possession, you know, for us. Like what we’ve been doing throughout the course of the season is is really owning time possession. The last two games that we’ve lost, we didn’t own those things. you know, we we kind of ran up the buzzaw versus San Fran, the Miami and last week in New England of those kind of guys that kind of play the similar style that you want to play when you get really good that owning time of possession, being able to run the football, doing all those different things. You I think um for example, I think San Fran um rushed the ball 40 times, may have had a 3.3 average. Um those are the kind of days you got to have when you’re playing against like really good rush defenses and that’s the day they had on this. They were able to get that win and those are the kind of days you got to have when you’re playing against guys like New England. So, like it’s really about the time possession, being able to maintain the football, playing a little bit of soccer, not because we’re going to Germany, but playing a little bit of soccer that way, keeping away from the other team. Sorry, Mark. Billy Bowman. Billy Bowman. I’m fully expecting him to be out there with us today and going. Um, I’m fully expecting some some participation from him this week. So, I feel really good about Billy, you know, unless something crazy happens. And then, Zack, Zach will be out there today. Uh, feel good about it. You know, you’ll never know till you get through these practices and some of those things, but I feel really good about that. What kind of impact have you seen Tyler Warren on how he’s utilizing that offensive? He’s awesome, too. A lot of fun to watch. Obviously, um really close friends with James Franco, so I watched him all through college. Um he is a um you know, a joker, so to speak. You know, talking about a guy that’s run a bunch of his own read in college. Um he can run all the different routes. Um they use him utilize him in the back field to go block. They utilize him in the back field to run out of there and run sneaky routes. Um he’s able to, you know, play big, play with great length. Um catches the ball great. He’s excellent player. Um, he’s one of those guys that everybody wants when you talk about that tight ending position that he can do those things. All right, guys.

Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Raheem Morris speaks with the media as the Falcons’ begin their preparations to head overseas to take on the Indianapolis Colts.

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