FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Despite a 37-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday that saw the Atlanta Falcons fall to 4-9, head coach Raheem Morris still feels the franchise’s ownership is on his side.
Team owner Arthur Blank “is 100 percent supporting me,” Morris said Monday. “Support is not an issue. He is absolutely outstanding. His ability to listen to us, be there for us, be in it with us is 100 percent awesome.”
Morris meets with Blank before every game to explain the team’s game plan and then again afterward to discuss what went right and what went wrong. This week’s meeting was no different from any others, the coach said.
“I’m not selling Arthur on what his decisions are,” said Morris, who fell to 33-56 as a head coach Sunday.
He has the lowest winning percentage of any qualifying active head coach in the league and is now 12-18 in the last two years in Atlanta, but he does not plan on focusing on his job security during the final four games, he said.
“The players matter to me, so to be selfish and think about my own personal stuff? No, that’s not right,” he said. “I’m going to give these guys and this organization everything I’ve got.”
Facing speculation about his job “is the price of doing business,” Morris said.
“You don’t put yourself in these positions to worry about those things,” he said. “As a leader, you have to stand in front of people and answer the hard questions. You also have to stand up and be a good example to your guys on how you go finish things. You can’t have difficulties in finishing and then go sell it to your guys. We all have the same things on the line. Let’s go find the best version of ourselves. Let’s go be that.”
No coaching staff changes
Morris still does not plan to make any staff changes on special teams despite the unit being responsible either directly or indirectly for surrendering 20 points in the last two games.
“Staff changes right now are irrelevant,” Morris said. “You are always going to have to evaluate everything at the end of the season.”
Morris pointed out Monday that his team signed several free agents this offseason specifically to improve the special teams, players such as Mike Ford, Feleipe Franks and Jamal Agnew. Still, though, Atlanta is 30th in special teams EPA this season (minus-32.78).
“The hard part for us is we dedicate so much time and people to special teams,” Morris said. “We went out and got these people and put them on our football team to make plays, and they have to make them. There’s no better way to put it than frustration. We have people who know what to do. We have to go execute.”
London remains ‘day to day’
Wide receiver Drake London, who has missed the last three games with a sprained knee ligament, could return to play Thursday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Morris didn’t sound overly hopeful. London and defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus are “day to day,” said Morris, who then added, “Feel good about Brandon.”
Edge rusher Jalon Walker is expected to play after leaving Sunday’s game with a quad bruise.
‘Fight’ to the finish
Morris’ postgame message to his team was simply, ‘Fight,’ linebacker Kaden Elliss said. Atlanta has officially been eliminated from playoff contention with four games remaining.
“They brought all of us here for a reason. They brought him here for a reason. It’s time to keep working,” Elliss said. “I think we have (been fighting). You could take the undefeated Patriots team that lost in the Super Bowl, and you could take any one of their games — everyone out there is a player that quit on a play or two. Every single game.”
Elliss has studied the careers of some of his favorite linebackers through history, and “these guys had plays where they quit,” he said.
“You want every play to be perfect. You want every play to be everything you can possibly give. That’s what every speech is about,” he said. “You get chills when you hear that, but it doesn’t matter who it is when you come in; you’re going to have plays on tape where you’re like, ‘Oh, I could have given more.’ It could be because you got dinged on the play before. It could be because it was a 15-play drive, a mental error, a little ding to the head, whatever it is.”
Atlanta was outscored 31-3 in the second half by Seattle on Sunday, but Elliss was unwilling to put all the blame for that on the 100-yard kickoff return allowed by the special teams unit on the first play of the half.
“We showed up ready to fight,” he said. “They made a big play coming out of the half. ‘Dang, that sucks.’ Our offense drives down the field, and something uncharacteristic happens (Bijan Robinson’s fumble), and we lose the ball. ‘Dang, all right defense, stand up.’ We didn’t stand up. It was all of us — offense, defense, special teams. If any of us had flipped a switch there, it stays a fight. The doors don’t get blown off.”
Elliss acknowledged it is not easy to keep playing with maximum effort with the promise of the playoffs gone.
“There’s a human element to it. I’m not going to act like there isn’t,” he said. “There are moments you get a little tired. You wish you had a later bye week. It is what it is, but in my mind, and hopefully in the mind of everyone in the locker room, you’re playing in the National Football League. You’re repping the Atlanta Falcons. This is awesome. Our record is not what we want it to be. OK. Go rep, go make your family proud, go make your kids who are going to watch the game one day proud. Go enjoy the game.”
Bijan’s big numbers
Robinson became the third player in NFL history with at least 3,500 rushing yards and 1,500 receiving yards in his first three seasons Sunday, joining LaDainian Tomlinson and William Andrews on that list. He leads the league in yards from scrimmage this year (1,683) and is the only player in the league with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards.