FALCONS SQUAD SHOW: The Atlanta Falcons are starting to get NATIONAL recognition | Was bye HELPFUL?

FALCONS SQUAD SHOW: The Atlanta Falcons are starting to get NATIONAL recognition | Was bye HELPFUL?

Go ahead. Start us off, Tori. All right. I’m Tori Mhaney and I’ve just spent a week in the Dominican Republic. So, this is as zen as I’m ever going to be. I’m Aaron Freeman. I didn’t spend a week in the Dominican Republic, but I’m feeling pretty zen with a stress-free Sunday that just passed. I’m Jarvis Davis and I’m trying to figure out what’s going on and so I’mma remain zen like everyone else and keep the party going. [Applause] Rise up a town. It’s the Falcon Squad. Everything Atlanta Falcons every week. Breaking down all the big hits and gamechanging plays from the ATL the way only the Locked on Podcast Network can. Straight from the ATL. The Falcon Squad Show starts now. Welcome in to the Falcons Squad Show, your home for the best Atlanta Falcons football talk. I’m your host, Tanisha Batist. Alongside me, our Locked On Falcons host Aaron Freeman, locked on analyst Jarvis Davis, and Falcons senior reporter Tory Mhaney. The squad show is also part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. And this episode is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week’s moving the game forward Mazda move and be move. So what is their identity or have they established one at all? We’ll discuss. Also, turns out the NFL schedulers might be geniuses after all. We’ll talk about that and more Falcons in the hall. We’ll download on that too. But first, let’s talk about two Falcons standouts in the month of September. Behan Robinson was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September. Through the first four weeks, Robinson logged 64 carries for 314 yards, one touchdown, along with 18 receptions for 270 yards and a touchdown. So, Jarvis, what can you say about a guy Van who’s leading the lead in total yards from scrimmage to end the month of September? You you got to say that he’s the guy that you drafted. He’s the guy that Terry Fontnau has been glowing about and gushing about ever since he walked on that Flowery Branch campus, right? You know, to put a college phrase into it. So, you you you see the the explosiveness, you see what he brings to the table on a regular basis. You see the walking on the waters of the world, the blue magic, you know, he’s standing on it and he’s he’s he’s he believes in it and that’s what he is when he steps on the field. So, it’s just amazing to see the type just the the type of player that he is on the field, but the type the man also like I’m really really keen on that because he’s just a awesome guy just to talk to. He’s a a superhum being and when I know we make Aaron and I joke make jokes about walking on water, but he lives that life too, right? That’s he stands on that. That’s that’s how he projects himself. That’s how he lives his life and that’s how he walks it. So for me to to see all of the things that you know Terry Funko believed when he drafted that guy and everybody was looking at him crazy with the running back and I was one of those guys. But now you see why I understand wholly why they they brought him in and he for him to get acknowledged like this from a n national perspective. We talked about how Bjon Robinson is kind of still in the under underlyings of the of the league as far as being recognized nationally. I feel like if he continues to play like this and the Falcons continue to win football games and be in the conversation to get in the playoffs and and compete for this division, I feel like we’re going to be having some real conversations about him. maybe offensive player of the year type deal because he’s just been absolutely crazy this uh first month of the season. Yeah. And Tori, when you think about September and what Jarvis said is true, winning matters. And so now, even if it’s just a couple of wins, hey, you’ve got wins under your belt and it’s team because we talked about this on some of the squad shows leading up to this week, how yeah, it’s great to have as many yards as the Falcons had on the ground, but ultimately when you start turning that into scores, that’s when the league starts paying attention because scores typically lead to wins. So then you talk about the fact that he’s the only player at least as of the end of the month of September in the NFL to rank in the top 20 in both rushing and receiving yards, but low-key, it’s really the fact that he’s also able to not just move the chains, but he’s also able to help this team to get scores, put put points on the board, and get them back into a situation where now we’re going into uh the by-week or coming back against the Buffalo Bills and the Falcons could be looking at being in a situation where they’re they’re three and two, but ultim ultimately for you when you look at Bjan whether it’s the on the field off the field or a little bit of both what just makes him uh so special and I mean what can you what other accolades do you give for a guy like him? Yeah, I so when it comes to Bjon, something that I’ve actually been doing like quite a bit of research on for a upcoming project that we’re doing over on atlant falcons.com in the coming weeks is kind of like to answer your question like what makes Bjon so different and what makes Bon Bjon so different is his ability to anticipate movements of defenders before they even make them. And more often than not, he guesses correct in how they’re going to move and how he’s going to counteract. It’s like everybody else is playing checkers and he’s playing chess and he is multiple steps ahead of of guys who are trying to tackle him. And I mean it’s it’s just really that that simple. And what’s also interesting in that is when you look at actually like Bjan Robinson is a physical runner. He’s not the fastest guy on the field in terms of other running backs in the league, but what again what makes him so special is his vision and his ability to accelerate and decelerate at a rate that is kind of unlike just about anybody else in the league. And it it it’s kind of that that twofold approach of he has this like crazy six sense as to what a defender is going to do, but he also has the physical attributes of being able to decelerate and move and shift his way through defenders as he’s I mean it’s it’s kind of wild when you like truly watch him. You watch his eyes. You watch kind of like the the GPS tracking of how he’s moving. I mean, it’s all just it what he does is is so special and again, it’s unlike anything else that a lot of people are doing. It’s like Bjon really is kind of this oneofone type of player and we’re seeing that actively in the fold right now. Yeah. And Aaron, this is a player like Bjan. You know how we say like, hey, there’s that leap, if you will, from year two, and there’s what are we looking for in the thirdyear player and so on and so forth. And you really feel like a Bjan Robinson is the guy who’s shown you. I keep adding like I keep I came in the league with this raw talent, if you will, but like Tori said, adding to the cerebral aspect of his game and bringing all of those things together so that every single year we just see him build. So, it’s nice to see the league kind of catching up to what the Falcons fan base and those who cover the Falcons already know about just how special he is. Yeah, I I think it’s it’s interesting you say that, T, because, you know, I remember when he was drafted and certain people, you know, were not necessarily as thrilled about that selection. And, you know, you understand, you know, given all the rhetoric surrounding, you know, taking running backs high and all that stuff. Yeah. and you know the whole conversation about positional value and all that stuff and I was just kind of like well you know that positional value conversation may be a conversation five years down the road when it comes time to pay Bjon Robinson but in the meantime you know all the people that are upset with that draft selection you know they’re going to have to be quote unquote punished by having to watch this guy play for another five to seven years and it’s like oh my god what a terrible punishment that you’re going to have to endure tour that you get to watch one of the best football players on the planet play football every single Sunday for the next 5 to seven years. Oh my god, I have to endure watching 60 to 80 to 100 games of Bjan Robinson. Oh my god, this is such a terrible crime that we have to Oh my god, what what has befallen us as Falcon fans and Falcons media people? Oh, what? This is so, you know, terrible. Something is getting personal here. I don’t know. He kept going. You know, I get it the first 15 seconds, but you start going to 30, 45, the voice is just it’s just piercing my soul. Free, what? You got something to say to your boy? What’s going on? Well, notice Aaron, it’s not piercing anybody else’s soul. The other real good, you know, when you get when you’re called out to sometimes, you know, little sensitive. You know what I’m saying? I’m a married man. I’m used to being I’m a married man. I’m used to being called out to you. So, you know what I’m saying? I I like to speak on that stuff and reveal myself. You know what I’m saying? Yes. He is I Yeah. Okay. He is I I him. You know what I’m saying? But like you know besides the you know the terrible punishment that everybody has to endure of watching this man play football you know going into the season you know with the injuries that we were talking about with Kayla McGary and how it was going to impact the run game and it was like oh well you know cuz going into the summer I was like yeah I think Bejian Robinson has a real legit chance to lead the league in rushing and then Kayla McGary went injured and I was like well that kind of is going out the window and it hasn’t really gone out the window right and like I think that’s a testament to Bejon being able to make it work despite not necessarily having the level of blocking that he’s been used to seeing for the first couple of years of his NFL season. And then you throw in the fact that he’s kind of making up for any drop in in production there if if there is any at that point with being a much more impactful player in the passing game. And you’ve seen that just a number of times in these first four games where it’s just kind of like, you know, you you throw him an outlet pass and he finds a way to turn it into a 50 60 plus yard gain. And that’s just something that, you know, we have seen him do from time to time. But it, you know, the fact that we’re getting it at a regular basis and you saw it on display fully in that Washington game where it was a major part of the Falcons passing attack to just line him up wide and say, “Hey, Bejian, go do incredible things.” Uh, and I think that’s just a testament to what you’re talking about, T, which is that steady improvement that he has shown from year one to year two to year three. And so like it’s just, you know, as we sit here waxing poetically about, you know, Bejian’s greatness, it’s just, you know, just another sign of like even when someone like myself who was never uh skeptical or never questioning Bejian or anything like that, the one time I was like, “Yeah, well, I don’t think he’s going to lead the league in rushing anymore.” um or you know come close to it. It’s like well he might not lead the league in rushing as we sit here today, but he’s leading the league in in scrimmage yards. And again, that’s just his ability to be able to overcome pretty much any circumstances you kind of throw at him. And that’s just a testament to his greatness. Indeed. I love what Godly Z said. He says, “Such a crime to enjoy ankles being snatched every Sunday.” I love that. Now, Jarvis, he wasn’t the only Falcon to get accolades. Xavier Watts was named defensive rookie of the month for September. He led all rookies through four games and interceptions with two, 17 solo tackles. Also tied for the rookie lead in passes defensed with four through the month of September. So, how impressive has it been for Watts to make that kind of impact this early? It’s it’s amazing when you talk about a rookie playing on the back end of a defense, right? and an aggressive style defense alongside Jesse Bates, you know, you know, who is Michael Jordan of the Michael Jordan of this defense. So, I I think that when you because coming into this season, you look at certain positions and say, “Okay, it may take them some time to to kind of come around, but you understand and see the talent.” I saw the talent, but you say, “Okay, playing on the back end of defense. They brought in Jordan Fuller. They might have Jordan Fuller get in there and when Xavier Watts is ready, they’ll be he’ll be good to go. Uh-uh. X-Man said, “No, no, no, no, no. Um, I got I’m I’m ready now.” And when you see what he’s been able to accomplish in this first month of the season, you start to really start to think about, okay, all right, if this is his floor in the first month of this season, not having gone through an entire season and seeing all of the things that they’re trying to throw at him, they’re trying to try him or they’re they’re trying to role plays towards him because they’re trying to avoid number three on the other side of the field. like that’s that’s that’s that’s that’s a pretty high mark when you’re talking about this early in the season to be able to accomplish what he’s doing right now. And and I think that he’s the type of guy that is going to not settle. Um I I get those vibes. He’s a guy that say he wants to continue to be better and and I think that Okay, I’m go ahead and say it. This might be the best draft Terry Fun had since he been here with the Atlanta Falcons. I’m just saying cuz still talking about value, you know, Billy Bowman, you know, the early returns are nice on him. Xavier watch is being recognized by the league in the first month of the season. Yeah, James Chris Jr., Jaylen Walker, they’re coming along. You know, we seen flashes and you know, when you think about, you talk about that having that impactful draft class, it propels you to something. The Falcons are trying to get into the playoffs, right? You know, we saw, you know, Dan Quinn’s first year in 2015. Hey man, they came into 2016 draft saying we need three startersh and they got it and they went on a run to the Super Bowl with that young behind defense. And I’m not saying they’re going to go on the run to to uh to the Super Bowl. I am saying these are the type of classes that can propel you to where you want to be. And where they want to be right now is in the postseason. So yeah, shout out to Terry Fono because this is this is this is looking really good right now. I think that when it comes to the conversation around Xavier Watts, like I don’t I still don’t understand this is just kind of just backs it up. I don’t understand how he fell as far as he did in the draft. Yeah. Like and I I really think like looking back and thinking back to I mean heck like we all do mock drafts probably like multiple times every single week and I knew I like had no doubt in my mind. I think there were multiple draft mock drafts that I did that I was like take Xavier Watts in the second round and I felt super confident that he was not going to fall out of the second round. Like there’s not a chance. And to see the fact that okay, yes, he he falls to where he where he did and the Falcons got him. The fact that he is having the success as early as he is is a testament to I think who he is. I think that he is such a instinctual player. We we talk about the instincts of Bjon Robinson. We we often talked about the instincts and the knowledge of what Jesse Bates is as a safety and how there are few who play the mental game of football better than Jesse Bates III. And I think that I but I would put Xavier Watts in that same level of conversation about instincts because that’s something that I remember I was talking to Jerry Gray about very early on after the Falcons drafted Xavier Watts and he he kind of made the comment. He was like he just knows where to be. He was like he puts himself in the position to make plays and he was like that’s sometimes something that you you can’t teach. like you can learn it, you can evolve it, like you can be better at it, you can put in a lot of time and effort into it. But he was like, for a guy who has only been playing this position for two whole years after being a receiver, after being kind of like a linebacker at one point, like after doing a bunch of different things at Notre Dame, the fact that he is so new to the position, but shows this level of understanding where the ball is going to be, where like what angles he needs to take on on runners, like it’s it’s pretty impressive the fact that he’s so early on in his career and doing some of these things and it speaks to the level of instincts that he has when understanding where he even needs to put himself to make a play. Yeah, I’m for one am not super surprised that he’s gotten off to this start because I just felt like going back to what Tori just said like he to me was a guy that as far as you know having the neck up ability of a safety which I think safety is one of those positions that is primarily still a neckup position very similar to quarterback where you just kind of it’s it’s not about you know how fast you run or all those various things. Um he he came into this league uh much more advanced than I think your typical safety was, especially given his background. The fact that he was able to make all the plays he made in college, as Tori just pointed out, making you know position switches midway through his career is a testament to that ability. And then you couple that with I think the Falcons putting him in a situation that I think is conducive to his thriving where his best skill set was kind of being that deep safety and you know I think naturally a lot of people were like oh well well you know Jesse Bates is one of the best you know center fielding safeties in the NFL and he’ll be the deep safety and it’s like oh well you kind of want Jesse Bates kind of closer to the ball so that you can take advantage of his I was going to say cheating, but his ball hawking skills, his but his tendency to teleport around the field and and not always be where you know the defense as it is drawn up is he’s supposed to be. So you can label that whatever you want to label that. Um, and so having Xavier Watts who’s kind of a perfect sort of guy to be that more of that deep safety and you’ve seen that reflected in both of his interceptions where both times, you know, the opposing quarterback JJ McCarthy and Marcus Mariota were trying to attack deep and he basically was able to take advantage of, you know, either overthrow or, you know, maybe that quarterback being a little bit too aggressive and being in the right place. So, it’s not to me a complete shock that he’s gotten off to as good a start uh as he has just because I think it was a perfect blending of the player and the the the scheme fit coming together to make and and I think this was going back to what Jarvis said. This was kind of the vision of of what Terry Fontino and his coaching staff were really hoping to get. And they were hoping to get this from Justin Simmons last year. and Justin Simmons had the pedigree, you know, to play this role, but for reasons that we will not name because we constantly bring up those reasons on these Falcon squad shows. Um, it, you know, those reasons may or may not have to do with a former University of Washington defensive coordinator, and we’re not talking about Steve Bellich. Um, you know, it’s one of those things where like you didn’t get to see that version of that player in Justin Simmons last year and now you’re kind of seeing that vision that the Falcons had a year ago now being manifested in a rookie of all pieces. But I do think going back to what Tori said, you know, Xavier Watts to me was not your typical rookie coming into the league and I think was much more advanced than a lot of people perceived him to be and certainly given where he dropped in the draft, you know, certainly is living up to that second round billing that a lot of people had on him. Yeah. Well, when you look at the success of Bean, look at the success of Xavier. You think about them helping this Falcons team to maybe create their identity on offense and defense, but for our squad show, what are those identities? We’ll take that under further review. This episode of our Falcon Squad show is brought to you by Square. Your favorite neighborhood spots run on Square. There are certain businesses that make the neighborhood the neighborhood. These are the places that become an extension of home. Whether it’s the sports bar dedicated to your team’s fan base, the spot with the best wings in town for game day or that beloved local chain that’s been rooted in your community for years, these businesses are what bring people together. When neighborhood businesses thrive, the whole neighborhood thrives. So, I think about my favorite local spot, which is Vickies. And it is in the heart of the Glenwood community. Been there for years. Kind of place where you walk in and everyone knows your name. cue up the cheers sound. But I like to go there because it’s good food, it’s good people, and very, very good eat. So, think about this. Square is a proud partner to businesses like that that are in more than 4 million neighborhoods around the world. 4 million businesses around the world. So, you can go to square.com/go/lockdon NFL to learn more. But before you do, go support your favorite neighborhood spot. And Square supports so many businesses, even many nonprofits that I work with because they show up for the community. And when we all show up as a community, it can mean big business for local business owners. So don’t forget, you can go to square.com/go/lockdon NFL to learn more. But before you do, support your favorite neighborhood spot. You’ll be happy you did. Square, see you in the neighborhood. All right, guys. I tell you, the technical difficulties today at the Batist Household are on 10. So, give me a second. We’ll get me all squared away so you can at least hear my voice and hopefully see my face for the rest of the broadcast. But that said, Tori, we are a quarter of a way through the season, give or take. So, I wanted to ask for you, and I know it’s still a work in progress. I think we started to really kind of see it mesh against the Washington Commanders. But starting on the offensive side of the ball, what for you, if you do feel like they’ve developed their identity, what for you is their identity? If not, let me know and then I’ll come back to what you would like it to be. So, first off, offense, what’s the identity? Bjon Robinson. Like that’s the identity. like when pretty much when next question when nothing works Bon works and I think that is like again it’s the whole conversation that we had at the top of the show of how special of an athlete he is how amazing it is that we get to watch him every Sunday whatever day it is I think the goal of the Falcons offensive identity though should be more than that I think that to the point to nature of what you said where it’s We saw what it could be against the Washington Commanders. I think that is the standard for which we should want to see the Falcons reach to uh where it was getting Kyle Pittz involved. It was hitting Drake London. It was Michael Pennik showing that confident strong arm that we’ve seen from him and it’s seeing Bjon Robinson be sprinkled throughout all of it. And I think that is that’s the goal. But is that their offensive identity right now? No. because for only one out of the four games that they’ve played so far have we seen what it realistically should look like based on the expectations that we have for this offense. So for that reason I can’t say that what they did against Washington is their true identity. It is what you want the identity to be moving forward. So that’s my answer is a little bit twofold. So it’s Bjon Robinson and it’s what they did against Washington and can they do it again? Can they do that against the Buffalo Bills? Can they do that against the San Francisco 49ers? If we see what this offense was against Washington, against those teams in the coming weeks, things could be really interesting down the stretch for this Atlanta Falcons team. And they could make a lot of noise, particularly offensively, in a way that they didn’t in the first three games of the season. And that’s the goal. That’s the hope. Yeah. Yeah. I I would agree, Erin. I think we saw glimpses, we got excited, we got encouraged because we all knew that what we saw against the Commanders was possible. But now that we’ve seen it, do you feel like maybe you’re you have a better feel for what their identity is or maybe offensively for the Falcons what it could be? Yeah, I I think Tori nailed it in the sense of right now their identity is Bejon. Get him the ball and and you know, let him cook. Um, and I think the goal is to make it a more of a pick your poison type of offense where we have Bejon, we have Drake London, we have Kyle Pittz, we have Darnell Mooney, we have Tyler Algier, uh, you know, even Charlie Warner in the mix, you know, we have all these guys that, you know, if you focus on one of these guys, and right now defenses are going to focus on Bejian, well, these other guys are going to burn you. And I think as Tori said, you’ve got to see that in Washington where Bejian had a big day. Um Kyle Pittz had a big day, Drake London had a big day. Now you got to get Darnell Mooney incorporated into that. And if you can just kind of have on in any given Sunday sort of three or four of those guys going off like that to me is what the identity of this Falcons offense is going to be. I sort of compared it on a recent lockdown on Falcons to kind of what that 2012 Falcons offense was when you had Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez and Rody White sort of spearheading that passing attack. You didn’t quite have the running game at that stage with Michael Turner at that stage in his time. But like that’s kind of the general sort of idea of what you want where it wasn’t every week that Julio or Rody or Tony went off, but usually if one of those guys had a quiet day, it meant somebody else had a big day or whatever. and this was the Tony Gonzalez game and this was the Julio Jones game and this was the Ronnie White game and you kind of want as we look back over this upcoming season, you kind of want to look back at at each of these games and be like, “Oh yeah, that was the Kyle Pittz game. That was the Drake London game. That was the Darnell Mooney game. That was the Bejian game. That was the Tyler AI game. Oh, that was the the game where Charlie Warner had weirdly had two touchdowns in that game or or whatever. That sort of thing. So I think that’s the identity that they’re building towards. We got a big step towards that against Washington, but as Tori said, they’re not quite there yet where we can consistently say that. Yeah, Jarvis, I really like that example, too, that Aaron gave because as he was calling out that 2012 offense, that’s where my mind was going. Like, yeah, I would like us to be on a squad show every week and we’re calling out a different player because that means that what Zack Robinson is strategizing, the offense is executing and everybody is executing around everyone else. So it doesn’t matter who whom amongst the 11 is making it happen. Even down to what we said maybe not in the commanders game but even the game where it was like oh my god like we didn’t even know Chris Lindstöm had another level that he hadn’t hit but he did. Right. So I think that when when Aaron is kind of calling out that offense my mind went to we want to have a conversation on squad shows where it doesn’t matter which of the 11 is that guy. It can be on any given Sunday that guy not named Van and this team still wins. To me, that’s a that’s a good identity. But for you, what would be the identity that you’re seeing develop or or the identity that you think could or should develop for this Falcons offense? I’ve said it from the beginning um leading up to the season that BJ Robinson running the football is going to be the foundation of this offense. What I want to see more of and I we haven’t seen enough of it and it’s been very very little um when we have seen it is play action that has to continue to be added to this game because what that’s going to do that’s going to make everyone’s life easier and the most important person it’s going to make easy is Michael Penn Jr. Because the more you have the more success that you have running the football with seven, that’s going to make life easy when you turn around and fake it to him and he’s going to have options down the field. We talk about, you know, uh, Darnell Mooney getting back healthy and him being that deep ball guy. We seen we saw Drake London in the Commanders game kind of kind of break out and people are kind of surprised like, “Oh yeah, Drake London. Yeah, yeah, this is what we’re used to seeing. He had a breakout year last year. Um, national media. Y’all folks, you can tell. You just tell on yourself. Every you watch one game and then you try to make a whole whole paint a broad a broad picture of what’s going on with this team. And I despise it. I despise it and I’m called out every time I see it. But anyway, y’all, that’s a little personal, but but yeah, but back to as far as this offense goes, I think this is this is what we want to see. We want to see the running game get going. We’ve seen that. that’s been pretty consistent. You can say, “Hey, that’s part of the identity.” But the thing that needs to be added to it, needs to become part of their identity, part of their makeup, and what they want to do on offense is the play action, like I said, because it’s going to make mine, Michael Pennis Jr.’s uh job a lot easier because guys are able to separate really quickly when they’re think the defender is think they’re running the football. when you’re freezing that second level of that defense, that touchdown against the commanders that Kyle Pittz brought, oh my gosh, the entire second level of defense would froze for probably about a half a second to a second and all that and and and Kyle Pis was able to create enough space where it was easy throw and catch. That’s the that’s what we need to see more often than not because I think that’s going to be the thing that get them to my preseason, you know, expectation of 28 points a game. That’s yeah, you know. Yeah, that’s what’s going to happen. That’s what’s going to happen to you. I promise you. I think but I will say I think that that is an expectation that is attainable because of the very things that you said, the very things Tori said, the very things Free said. So yeah, if we see what we’re supposed to see with any number of players on this offensive side of the ball, I don’t think 28 points is out of the realm of possibility on a consistent basis. Meaning, there are obviously going to be some days where they’re going to be closer games or it’s going to be decided in the 17 20 24 range, but ultimately speaking, I keep saying if we’re talking 28, we’re talking touchdowns. And if we’re talking touchdowns, we’re talking wins. When we come back, we’re going to talk a little bit more about the identity of defense and special teams, but also, oh my goodness, the NFL schedulers ended up being maybe geniuses after all. We’ll unpack it in next stop. This episode is brought to you by Mazda’s Moving the Game Forward. For those who believe it’s not just about playing the game, it’s about redefining it. There are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, move culture, and keep moving the body forward. So, think about this. You have moments that define games where a team wins or a team loses. And you have moments that define a game like what we have seen Bejian Robinson do, man, in that commander game, just absolutely getting it done on the ground and in the air in terms of yards from scrimmage. That’s why he is offensive player of the month. So, for the NFC. So if you’re going forward and you’re looking for that player who’s moving things forward, the one who can make moves that defines a game, that’s Bejian Robinson. And for if you’re looking for it in a car, that’s Mazda. Or really a vehicle as well. Because when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is always the beginning. And just like there’s more to every highlight, there is more to a Mazda vehicle. So be sure to check out Mazda, move, and be moved. So Aaron, let’s continue talking about the identity of the team. I think the defense has had some pleasant surprises there as we started the show off talking about Xavier Watts. Not that we didn’t think that he was going to be good, but man, you got to say it’s impressive and what he’s been able to do uh early on and even uh other members of the rookie class. Maybe it doesn’t always come in the stat line for Jaylen Walker or James Spears Jr., But we are seeing some things and even in rookie class 2.0 from 2024 where we’re starting to see some uptick even there as well. But ultimately when you think about the defense as a whole, what’s the identity for this defense? Have you seen it? Do you feel like we’re starting to see it evolve into what their identity is? Yeah, I I think that sort of aggressive attack style defense that, you know, they wanted to build, I think you’re seeing that come to fruition. You’re seeing the quote unquote simplified defense that is, I think, helping um a lot of these young players be major contributors where they’re not asking them to do all these complicated things pre- snap. They’re not doing a ton of disguise on the back end. And it’s like you can line up and be like, “Yeah, I think they’re in man coverage.” And then they’re in man coverage. But guess what they do? They’re locking down guys when they play in man coverage, particularly in the first two games of the season. Uh and hopefully with AJ Terrell coming back, they’ll be able to get back to doing more of that. Uh and you’re seeing that pass rush, you know, getting home on a more regular basis. You’re seeing Jeff Olrich being aggressive with his blitzes and some of these pressures that he’s bringing, you know, with Kate Nellis um popping. And that was a question going into the season where it was like that week one game it was like oh like are they going to ask Kellis to do linebacker stuff more this year than they did in the past where he was primarily a rusher in that first game with Dine Diablo really popping as a pass rusher. You were thinking that and then the last couple of weeks it’s like no we’re still going to ask Kate Nellis to do Kaden all the Kaden Nellis things that we’re we’re used to doing and then that’s allowed Devon Diablo to diversify his skill set. So, I think the defensive identity is what this team was selling all summer in terms of being that aggressive attack style uh type of defense. We’re going to be simple. We’re just, you know, we’re going to be able to match you up. We’re going to man you up. We’re going to be able to attack you in various ways and I think they’re living up to that, Billy. Yeah, indeed. Indeed. and Jarvis for you. You got to be pleased about the fact that you’re getting into week four of the season or wrapping up week four of the season and as you get through that first quarter, the defense is upticking even with some of the miscues or maybe you know you don’t have another like six sack game like you did against Minnesota. But so many other things that you can dig into across that stat line, across the box score, or even outside of the stat line that makes you say, “Hey, this defense is developing an identity.” Absolutely. And if you ask me what unit is closest to being consistently being who we think they’re going to be as far as having an identity, it’s the defense. Yes. For me, because of the reasons um Free just mentioned, we talked about it being the fast and and and really being aggressive. like you could you felt it in that first game even in the loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers you was like oh this defense looks different and you and it could tell you can tell each and every game and you know what I haven’t said T for the first quarter or so for the season uh if I can uh line it up like you did um I haven’t said man what the hell they doing out there you know that hasn’t come out of my mouth at all watching this watching these guys play and you know I said that a lot last year when a certain defensive coordinator Um, you know, Ocean, we just call him Ocean. Ocean was a defensive coordinator. You know what I’m saying? Like when Ocean was defensive coordinator, it just there were too many times that I was questioning play calling on third and long down in the distance. We were having conversations about I think we had that that conversation on on on lock on Falcons probably like at least 15 times, you know, in in an 18week season, right? So for me, when you don’t question those things, you don’t you don’t figure out, okay, why is the quarterback sitting back there, you know, cooking breakfast and all this stuff and he has all this time to throw the football and your corners have to throw throw the ball all have all this time to have to cover. That’s when you in a space where you understand the difference. you understand the the evolution or the elevation that that has going on on that side of the football and you just have a whole bunch of young guys just over there just figuring it out. And like you said, to the tune of you having a uh defensive rookie of the month, you know, and you have guys who are lead amongst the leaders in and pressure and pressures and James Pierce Jr., he’s up there, right? you know, when you talk about that and being consistent in that arena and and I think that, you know, as the as the season goes along, these guys are going to progress. They’re going to get better, right? They might go through some some some little valleys, right, a as they go along in the season because it’s a little bit longer than than in college, but you understand that they have the the coach that’s going to figure it out for him and have an answer for him. I think Jeff said something that I thought was so great. It’s just wonderful to hear. He said like he said my job is to have an answer when when something goes wrong on the field and he said if I don’t have the answer for those guys as to how to fix this dog on thing he said I don’t deserve have keep my job. I was like whoa wait a minute like you talking about some accountability. That is what I’m talking about right there because that’s that type of coaching and and and valuing and putting teaching at the top level of not ego none of that stuff not my system and all that stuff. It’s just teaching. I need to teach these guys. I need to help them understand what’s going on out on that field. Like I that’s the number one priority. And I think that when you have a defense coordinator like that, that identity shines through game in and game out regardless of win or loss. Tori, what about for you this defense? What’s the identity? What do you feel like is the identity that’s developing? So, I think it goes back to something that Jeffrey talked about in his very first introductory press conference. It’s something that I actually did a whole me and Taran Walk and Will McFaden we did a whole thing this past week on Jeff’s heart mind fist mantra and what it means and what each pillar stands for and how it ultimately accumulates into what you see on the field. And I’m usually not one to be like super into like slogans or anything or mantras or anything like that. I’m just kind of I I just never have like really operated in that mindset. But when we sat down with Jeff Brich to talk about it, he was like, “It’s not a slogan. It’s not a mantra. It’s three words that represent what we are, who we are, and what we do.” And I I felt like for me through the first four games, you can see all three of those pillars in everything that this team does. I think that this group specifically, especially the young players on this defense, have truly bought into what Jeff Albrich is selling as a coach. And it goes to the heart, mind fist of it all. Like, you think about the the blitzes that they’re putting together. They’re not elaborate. They’re not elaborate blitzes or anything like that. Like, it’s it’s just they’re they’re getting after the quarterback. They’re making things uncomfortable and they’re covering things up on the back end. like it’s it it’s very to to Freeze point about the simplicity of it. Like they’re just kind of going out there and they’re winning and they’re they have kind of had their chains off of them a little bit and they can go and run around and play how they want to and you know they play really hard. They like they’re they’re a tough defense. They’re a very fun defense to watch and and I think that ultimately goes back to everything that Jeff Brook has said from the beginning that he wanted this group to be. And I think it’s actually really interesting because one of the main things that he said when we were sitting in in his office with him was he was like you know the stats may not change overnight. The you know the what the impact that this defense has may not necessarily be there in week one. He was like but you’re going to know from go that we stand for something. And I would argue that I know that they stand for something. I can see it and I can also see it in the stat sheet. I can also see it in the way that they play and how they’re making quarterbacks uncomfortable. Like collectively as a group, I just think that they are kind of this entity of what Jeff said from day one he wanted them to be. Yeah, I I would agree. And yeah, I peeped into the series that Tori’s talking about on atlant falcons.com. You should check it out. It’s actually pretty darn cool. Now, as hyped, Aaron, as we were talking about the identity of the defense is, as befuddled as we probably are about the identity of the special teams unit, what what should that be? And and you see, I even have some struggle on that because it’s it’s it seems so simple and it seems so obvious, but yet here we are a quarter of the way into the season. We have a pretty good idea of what the offensive identity should be and or is. We have an idea of what the identity of this defense is. Special teams, I’m just gonna go with dot dot dot, but you give it a shot. Yeah. I think most teams look at their special teams and the the identity that they want that unit to have is consistency, right? Where you can consistently get, you know, there there, you know, offense is going to be up one week, defense is going to be up some weeks depending on who you’re playing. But you always want your special teams to be consistent. You want to make your kicks. You want your punter to be able to flip field position. You want to be able to cover, you know, kicks and punts and all that stuff. You want your returners uh to be able to to get positive field position. And that all requires consistency. And the Falcons have not gotten consistency from their special teams unit. So, their unident identity at this stage is very much a work in progress. Uh, and so we’ll see if they can start being a little bit more of a consistent unit so that, you know, we’re not sitting here continually, you know, devoting 15 minutes of a a postgame show talking about special teams where it’s like we shouldn’t be talking about special teams this much on these postgame shows. There should be a lot more to talk about with other things uh involved with the team. uh you know, not to to diminish the third phase of the game, but typically that third phase of the game is the hidden phase of the game that most people don’t tend to notice unless things are going either extremely good or extremely poorly. And unfortunately for the Falcons, it’s just been a little bit of the latter as opposed to the former at this stage uh so far the season. So, I think that’s the main thing that the Falcons want to fix. Yeah, I think for me this is incomplete. Uh, I have no idea what the identity of this special team is because you’re a longtime kicker that you were super loyal to. You came in and he kicked one game and then you got rid of him. You know, John Parker Romo, he was in it. He was uh he wasn’t there. You sat him down for a game and then after John Parker Romo came and did his thing, went five and five against the Vikings, you were like, “Oh, okay. Well, we’ll see you later.” And then he stunk it up against the Carolina Panthers. Okay. He went 0 for two. now and then when it gets commanders and hit a couple chip shots, you know, so hopefully that trend continues, but until they get this kicker situation and I don’t get that feeling in my stomach, this uh I didn’t tell this special teams unit is going to be incomplete. Sorry. Yeah. I mean, I think both of the words like consistent, incomplete, like the goal I would add to a special teams unit is to be reliable. And I mean that’s basically kind of in the same vein of everything that we’re talking about. like you want to be able to rely on your kicking game, you want to be able to rely on your returners. Like, and for the most part over the last few years, you’ve been able to do that. Um, very, very much so, very strongly, you’ve been able to rely on your special teams unit, even at times when you couldn’t rely on anything else. And I I think that that’s what’s making this uh what we’ve seen through the first four games of the special teams unit like such a hard pill to swallow at times because we have seen what they’ve been able to do and we have seen kind of them not only be reliable but be big-time playmakers and to really capitalize on moments that change the outcomes of games. And now it’s kind of the other side of the same coin where it’s like changing the outcomes of games, but not for the better. It’s it’s putting the defense in tough field positions opportun or the offense in tough in tough field position opportunities. Like it’s it it’s just one of those things where like you want to rely on this group and at times you can and at times you can’t to go back to freeze like consistency like you want them to be consistent you want them to be reliable but right now it is kind of what what Jarvis is saying where it’s like it’s a mixed bag. Yeah. Yeah. A mixed bag indeed. So yeah I I I think that unless and until and maybe it’s not even an unless and until maybe it’s just a we shall see. I think every other aspect of special teams, you know, as long as you get a healthy Jamal Agnu that Maris Williams can work with and he’s getting it out of Bradley Pinion just in terms of being able to those opportunities to flip the field. If maybe there can be some consistency there, maybe it can kind of offset and maybe take a little bit of pressure off what the rest of that team needs to do. And really, I shouldn’t even say the rest of Parker Roma, what the kicking team, what the kicking uh game need needs to be for for this team. When we come back, we’ll talk about the NFL schedulers maybe possibly getting it right and any Falcons being added to the Hall of Fame. We’ll talk about if there are more to go into Canton in next stop. This episode of our Falcon Squad show is brought to you by FanDuel. 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So visit bandal.com to download the Fandal app today and get started. So Jarvis, we look at the schedule or looked at the schedule early on and thought what a buy in like week five kind of a bit of a disappointment because you kind of think of a buy as something maybe a third of the way in or even half uh way into the season to give your players a reset. But if we’re being honest, some big players on both sides of the ball. If we think about AJ Terrell going down during the season, if we think about Darnell Mooney coming into the season, not 100%, for example, you kind of look at this bye-week and say maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. I mean, how much better is it that turns out the by-week has come just ahead of a big showdown against the Buffalo Bills who are pretty healthy coming into the bins next week. How important is it or maybe good after all that this bye-week has come at the time it has for these Falcons? It’s perfect timing because when you think about giving AJ Terrell another week to kind of get get right, you know, you talk about soft tissue injuries which can vary from player to player, you know, like something breaks. Yeah. You can pretty much say, hey, four to six weeks, it’s going to happen. It’s going to be back be good to go. But we talking about that soft tissue is all about pain tolerance and all that all of those things. So to give your your number one corner that extra time to get back, right, I I I think this it was it was perfect timing and and you know, we thinking about potentially getting a starting the process of of getting a guy like Storm Norton back, starting the process of getting a guy like Taquan Graham back, all those things matter and we talking about time because my biggest concern for this defense, I didn’t mention it earlier when we were talking about the identity of this defense, that run defense. That’s the only thing that I can kind of say, hey, I hope nobody don’t really take a look at this thing and see, hey man, we can run the football, run a little counter, you know what I’m saying? They’re a little susceptible to that thing. So, and then with a a team like the the Buffalo Bills who coming off a loss against New England Packers earlier this week, that’s that’s that stuff is going to matter because a lot of times when when games like that happen, teams refocus. They get back to the foundation of who they are and they get a ball to Josh Allen and say, “Hey man, save us.” You know, so the Falcons got a a big test this weekend for you to get your number one corner. Hey, they’re giving me options, right? I can play a little bit more man than I want to, you know, when versus having the offer out there. Hey man, we run a little zone every now and then. You know what I’m saying? So, when you have that number one corner, that’s going to open up a lot of things for the defensive coordinator. And I feel like it’s bows. It’s almost like uh the football guys written it. It was written that the Falcons going to be dealing with injuries and they need an extra week to get right on on Monday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills. Yeah. Yeah. And Tori injuries and hey, maybe that kicker guy we’re talking about can get a few more reps. Hopefully he’s not taking too much time off, but it it actually might turn out to be a plus for the Falcons after all that they’re having a buy this this early. Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, I was happy that I got to go, you know, get away for a little bit. So, for me personally, like that was great. Love it. Was actually crazy crazy timing this week by uh but I I think though I am concerned still about the fact that it did happen so early. Um, I think that there are so many there’s so much left of the season and also the offense particularly is coming off of argue it its best performance like point blank and not arguably like its best performance they’re coming off of. And there was a part of me that left last Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders being like this offense needs to go again. They need to play again. Like they need to get things going quickly. And like this break kind of put this thought in the back of my head that it’s like, oh no, are they going to like regress instead of progress? And I think like that’s ultimately where I sit now. Like how do you make sure the offense that shows up against the Bills on Monday Night Football after a significantly long break between their best performance and whatever comes next? How do you make sure that they look like what their last outing was and not what the last three outings were? And so I think like that’s where I kind of go I mean it’s it’s it’s the same conversation no matter when you have the buy. You’re always going to be talking about injuries and guys getting back. It was just like this one piece of this offensive performance that I was like h I don’t know. I kind of wanted if if we could go back and do it again like again I would have the bye-week after that Germany trip. I just would like or after after going to San Francisco in two weeks like I I still even though I had a great byee I still hate a week five buy. Speaking of great bye-week, Tori, uh, uh, uh, T, we had talked about on locked on Falcons how Aaron was going to share what he did on his by week, you know, and I, uh, tried to push him to, you know, go out and, you know, swallow the Royals, you know, you making all this big time money, you know what I’m saying, doing locked on Falcons, you know what I mean? Like, go and spend a little bread, you know, have a good time. So, Aaron, Aaron, you got the floor, sir. Okay. All right. I guess we’re doing this. Well, you know what, Erin, you can do a two-parter because my question was going to be about whether or not this was a good time because of the injuries, which uh let me just say this in agreement with Tori, it’s always we talk about it in um basketball, especially because there’s so much space when it comes to playoff time, rust versus rust, right? And so, which one is actually going to prevail when you get the rust? So, I I totally get your point there, but Erin, that’s a two-parter for you to start us off. So, part one is whether or not it turns out that the by-week might be a good look early after all. But part two is what the hell did you do? I love the way you posed. That sounds good. Uh yeah, we we’ll see if the by-week um ultimately, you know, I think the timing right now for where the Falcons are is a good time because like they’re coming off of this game as Tori said, you know, you would like them to be able to maintain this momentum, but it does give them a pause to kind of look back and see what’s working and hopefully they will be able to, you know, build on that uh going into this middle stretch of the season. To me, the question with the timing of the buy is going to be, you know, you got 13 straight games to play after this point in time. The only real break you get is that mini break uh coming off of that Thursday night game, I believe in like week what 15 against the Bucks. Uh it is. And so you you know, we’re talking about what, like nine, 10 weeks of just you just got to play straight football, uh with no breaks, uh including an international trip in the middle of all that. So, uh, I do think the timing of this buy, while it feels good right now because you’re you’re getting a couple of guys coming off of injury, uh, that are going to be healthy for this stretch, you know, are we going to be sitting here having a similar conversation in in a month from now where it’s like, oh man, we could really use a break. These injuries are starting to mount. So, I think that’s uh going to be a challenge that will just only only time will tell on that front. And unfortunately, you know, you just don’t have as much control over whether or not guys can stay healthy uh over the course of the season. Now, on a more personal level, I I did tell Jarvis uh this past Friday that I was planning on doing some stuff on Saturday. Unfortunately, those plans fell through for me to go out. So, I just wound up, you know, having a more relaxing Saturday evening, hanging out with some friends and family, watching uh a movie and whatnot. Uh, and so nothing too crazy to that I got into on this by week. So there’s that. So we’ll just be on Aaron Freeman getting it in watch for the rest of the season. Fair enough. Yes. Aaron Freeman hangover watch. We need a hangover. The hangover watch. Yes. We need Yes, hangover. Yes, we will be on that watch for the rest of the season. But speaking of that, Jarvis, Tori, you guys, I mean, we obviously have a squad show today and we still have some obligations with our coverage of the Falcons and Tori, you kind of hinted at it a little bit. What are you guys doing uh during this by week to kind of take advantage? Oh, I mean, I went I got back from the Dominican Republic late last night. Yeah. Yeah. So, I I had a great time. We were there for uh five days. did a whole excursion like drank way too many rum and cokes. Like I’m feeling aok. Okay. Coke. I I do like a rum and coke. I do. Yeah. I had too many though, so I probably won’t have any more rum and cokes for a while. Well, uh, for me, you know, Sunday was a very interesting day because my wife assumes that I’m going to be out of pocket for the entire day and, you know, she doesn’t keep up with this Falcon schedule and everything like that. So, I was like, “Oh, yeah, we got a uh we got a day off.” She like, “Oh, okay.” You know, so we went went to church, you know, did the whole thing. Then after church, we went to brunch, got something to eat, sat down, you know, kicked in with the fam, my daughters, you know, all that stuff. We were just out having a good old time and then you know we uh participated in my wife’s passion. If my passion is talking about sports and covering the Atlanta Falcons, my wife passion is going to look at houses. So we went to an open house, you know, around 3:30, you know, the one:00 game still going on. You know what I’m saying? So, you know, hey, I was like, “All right, baby.” You know, we’re going to take it down. Let’s go there. You know what I’m saying? I was free. I was mind free. real one worried about anything. I like I’ll catch up on some stuff later, you know, on the games and everything. So, we’ll be we’ll be all good. But yeah, that was uh but the only thing issue I had with it t Don’t tell her I told you this. You know, Tanisha knows my wife. You know what I’m saying? Got they’re very similar quality women. You know what I’m saying? Like high high character, super high super high character women. So, she, you know, before we before we got out the car to go into the thing, she was like, “All right, here are the rules.” I was like, “Wait a minute. like, “All right, okay. Are the rules?” She was like, “I don’t need you to say anything. I don’t want you to answer any questions. I want you to talk to anybody. Don’t talk to a realtor. Don’t say I’m like, “Wait a minute. What? I just So, you just want me to go in there and just stand? Would you rather for me to stay in the car?” And she’s like, “Yeah, you can stay in the car.” I’m like, “Whoa.” What were we doing? Yeah. Like, you’re an accessory, right? Exactly. Basically. Yeah. Yeah. Like Yeah. Like it was just Yeah. I’ve never been treated like that before. I felt worthless. You know what I’m saying? You know what I’m saying? I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is I don’t want to see my wife.” You know, like maybe I need to be out of pocket on Saturday on Sundays going for for the rest of my life. You know what I’m saying? She’s got a routine maybe that you kind of interrupted. Yeah. Exactly. So, she was So, she was like, “Yeah, you can stay in here. Y’all can go take a I’ll take a Uber home. It don’t matter.” Well, she she really said that. She like I’m not exaggerating. I know I exaggerate when I tell stories, but not here. She No, not here. She said she said, “I will take a Uber if y’all got an issue.” That’s her kind. No, no. I I hear you on that because I have a friend who loves to go and look at houses and kind of get ideas for decorating and that’s her little space and she kind of does her own thing. So, it’s kind of I guess like antiquing where people just go and that’s like their thing and they just want to fly solo with it. Hey, look, do you whatever works. Whatever works. I woke up at my same time yesterday like it was game day. So I was like, “Oh, but it’s not game day, so what am I gonna do?” So I It was boring. I mean, I just cleaned the house. And then I said, “Oh, wait. I got energy. I’ll clean the truck. Oh, wait. I got more energy. I’ll go work out. Oh, wait. I got more energy. I’m going to church. Oh, wait. I got to go to like um to Cula somewhere because I had to like go pick up some stuff for Xavier’s upcoming homecoming.” And then you know me, very social person. So I was like, “Oh, the three of us. Oh, wait a minute. so and so lives next door. Hey, you want to come through? And by the time it finished, it was like six or seven of us just kind of kicking it until some crazy hour last night. And um that’s kind of what I did with with my Sunday as I kind of snuck a peek at what was going on uh in the NFL and even over at the WNBA with their WNBA finals going on. But it was um a nice little tiring, exhausting Sunday. I was like, shoot, I feel like I worked and of course got ready for for today’s show. So, but glad that you guys at least, you know, Aaron trying to foray into some other areas. Tori giving all of us F that money. Aaron, stop playing around, bro. You can’t finding out that he was just a tag along. He didn’t know it, but now he does. So, Sunday was kind of, you know, in a by-week was leading into the bye-week was a bit of a lesson in exploration for us all. And it’s all good. And I hope that the Squad Show family, hey, I hope you guys enjoyed your Sunday and that you were able to take advantage of some different things because of the buy. And of course, we always appreciate you, our everydayers, for making this show your first listen of the day. Stop by Lockup Falcons with Aaron as your second listen. Jarvis is a frequent contributor there as well. And of course, we talked about it earlier. Got some really cool articles, a series that Tori and her colleagues are doing over at Falcons.com. Check that out. See you next time. [Music]

The Falcons Squad Show dives deep into the Atlanta Falcons’ identity after the first quarter of the NFL season. Hosts Tenitra Batiste, Aaron Freeman, Jarvis Davis, and Tori McElhaney analyze standout performances from Bijan Robinson and Xavier Watts, discussing their impact on offense and defense respectively. The panel explores the team’s evolving identity on both sides of the ball, with a focus on the aggressive defensive style under coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. They debate the timing of the early bye week and its potential benefits for injured players like A.J. Terrell. The hosts also share personal anecdotes about their bye week activities, providing a mix of football analysis and lighthearted banter that gives listeners insight into the Falcons’ progress and challenges heading into a crucial stretch of the season.

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Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.

Square
To learn more, go support your favorite neighborhood spot and see what Square has been up to in your neck of the woods. And then if you have extra time, check out https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl.

PrizePicks
Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at https://sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit https://FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit https://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit https://ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)