VS.

POSTGAME QUOTES
AUGUST 27, 2007

Bengals-Falcons Gameday

Opening statement:
“I guess the number one thing I told the guys was there were parts of tonight where we did a lot of good things. Also, for the first time we had the opportunity to get guys on the field for the very first time this preseason, which is one of the things that we wanted to do. I was disappointed in a few things. We had some dropped balls and some penalties offensively. Also we had some missed assignments on defense and we didn’t cover on the kicking game as well. I think those are some of things that were most disappointing. At the beginning of the third quarter we had opportunities. A lot of guys did some things and we have to go back and continue to put the pieces together.”

Will you have to sign another kicker?
“We will have to see. Had this been a regular season game, he might have been able to come back and do some things. It gave us an opportunity to work on some two-point plays and we practice on those things. We never got an opportunity to run them live, so I just wanted the offense to take advantage of those opportunities today and put the quarterback in that situation. Had this of been a regular season game we would have had Kyle (Larson) go ahead and kick the extra point. We will have to work on that this week in practice.”

How is Dexter Jackson?
“Dexter is fine, he had a concussion so he will get the evaluation and we will go from there.”

How did you like being in the booth tonight?
“I didn’t enjoy it at all.”

Opening Statement:
“We need to iron out a lot of the kinks, eliminate the mistakes and we will be ready to roll.”

Does anyone care that you are 0-3:
“No. We’ve been 4-0 and we’ve been 0-4. We’ll be ready for that Monday night opener versus Baltimore. We’ll be ready if we are 0-4 or 1-3. We want to win every time that we step on the field. There are a lot of other things going on other than that (record in preseason).”

On pre-snap penalties:
“You can’t let those things happen. We have to iron out some offensive mistakes. I think that we’ve done a lot of really good things but we still need to get better. We need to get better on third down and better in the red zone.”

On how much he may play Friday night:
“I’m not sure.” Was he focused on getting the ball to Chad Johnson: “You have to take what the defense gives you and Chad did a good job of getting open.”

On his team's so-called 'dress rehearsal':
“I thought it was OK, but nowhere near where we want it to be. Tonight was supposed to be a dress rehearsal for what we have to do in the next two weeks. We have a couple of weeks to get it together. We’ll be fine.”

On his competitive rivalry with DeAngelo Hall:
“It’s always going to be that way as long as we’re playing. You are going to get your money’s worth. We have two great competitors that work hard. I sent them a copy of my book during the week.”

On the Falcons game plan against him:
“I think they played more man-to-man. It’s still not where I want to be with “9” (Carson Palmer). I’m still upset about the way we played as a unit.”

On working out the mistakes in the offense:
“I’m here. I won’t let us down.”

On his defensive accomplishments this evening:
“It’s all about the repetitions and it was a good game. They outworked us and they outplayed us. We just need to go back to the drawing board, revisit the fundamentals and get ready for that Monday night game to open the season.”

On a long preseason:
“It’s extra work, but it’s good for us. You go up against your guys, against your teammates and it’s good to play against guys with different colored jerseys. You work up a lot of aggravation in training camp and you need to get it out. Also, you need other challenges that you get lining up across from tough competition.”

On returning to Atlanta to play:
“I live here in Atlanta and I always enjoy coming here. Tonight, as long as I’ve been in this league, it’s just another opponent. We didn’t play well enough tonight and we made too many mental errors. We just didn’t get it done tonight. We played well in spots but overall we gave up too many big plays.”

On Michael Vick:
“My prayers go out to him and it’s hard. You know it’s hard on him and what he has had to go through. It’s been a shock to a lot of us. Like I said, we just send our prayers out to him.”

Opening statement:
“That was a good win for us. It was really a good week of preparation for us. I liked the way our players attacked the week. I liked the way they participated in the meetings. I liked the way we practiced all week long. I think they got themselves ready to play. It was important for them to come out and play well on national television. We certainly didn’t do everything right, but we did get the win. I felt good about the way we played in the first half. I thought the offense moved the ball well and put points on the defense. Defensively, that was a really good offense we played against with Carson Palmer throwing the ball and Chad Johnson catching it. It is a tough offense to defend. I think we got four sacks today and that is one of the things I liked. We played everybody and continued to work on our depth. It was a very positive night for us.”

How important was it for you to come out and play well?
“It was very important for us to come out and play well. That is what we talked about all week. We needed to show we could come out here and show we can focus and concentrate. We all have a job to do. I think we came out here and played like we practiced this week. I thought we practiced well and I wanted that to show up on the field in the game.”

On how the offense played:
“I think one thing we talked about all week was making the big play. Not necessarily throwing the deep ball, but guys getting yards after the catch and the offensive line playing well. We talked about the quarterback getting time to throw, about breaking tackles and it did show up. When you talk about something all week long you have a good chance of it showing up during the game.”

On RB Warrick Dunn's possible injury:
“The plan for Warrick was to treat it like it was his first preseason game, which it was. We wanted him to play the first quarter and get him six to eight carries and maybe 15 or 16 plays. He was ready to come back in the game. He told me he felt rusty and would like to get the ball a couple of more times, but it was time to shut him down and get him ready for Minnesota. We need Warrick back there. He provides a comfort level for me and everybody else because he knows exactly how to play the position. He is going to make some great plays for us.”

On getting TE Alge Crumpler back:
“It was actually good to get Alge back in practice because I have not seen a lot of him. We went all through OTA’s, mini-camp and most of training camp without knowing a lot about Alge. What I like most about practice is when he steps in the huddle he leads. He elevates everybody else’s game. I certainly now have an idea of how to get him the ball. He is starting to develop a relationship with Joey (Harrington) and the other quarterbacks. We still have a lot of work to do to get on the same page for the Minnesota game.”

Opening statement:
“I felt really good on how we started as an offense. We came out and moved the ball very well. There is still a lot of room for improvement, and that is a positive because we were able to put points up early. Mostly I was impressed with how we fought through the situations because there was a lull into the second quarter. I missed a few things but we were able to come in the second half and put a drive together. We made some plays out there that we weren’t able to do in the games past.”

Did you feel it was important to come out with a strong performance for the home fans?
“It was nice to play well for our fans because it does something for your confidence. We had spurt in our first two games on the road. We had things to build on but also to work on. We came out tonight at home and made some good plays out there.”

How did you feel about the running game?
“I think we did just fine. It’s funny because some of the mistakes I made were in the running game. Those things will come the more we work on them in the upcoming games and practice.”

How did it feel to have RB Warrick Dunn and TE Alge Crumpler out there?
“You feel good when you are surrounded by playmakers. I think if you look across the stat line, it is indicative of the type of team we have.”

How he feels about his health:
“I feel a little rusty. I was really eager to get back out there and run around. I got a chance to get hit and get a feel for the game with the new system, the running game and the passing game. It was a little weird, but I was happy to get back out there and run around. I think offensively, I’m moving in the right direction. We just all have to be on the same page on certain plays. The quarterback has a lot of responsibility, but I think that we can help each other out.”

The outlook of the Falcons this season:
“I think we’re going to be explosive. Obviously, you can see that we’re throwing the football all over the field and right now, I think that’s going to help us. If we can continue to do that and keep building on the running game, we can put in some difficult situations for the (opposing) defense.”

On his play early in the game:
“It came with a great week of practice. I felt I had a great week of practice out there. I studied them very well and I was able to come out here on the field and execute. It was great being here in Atlanta with the home crowd and all the excitement with that. That really helped me out to make plays.”

On the execution of the Falcons defense:
“Overall, we did well. There are a few things we need to work on once we get back out on the practice field, but overall, I feel like we’re getting better every game.”

On the performance of the Falcons quarterbacks:
“I felt great. I thought both Joey (Harrington) and myself had good games. Obviously, there are some things we need to improve on. We missed some checks in the running game that we normally don’t miss. There’s definitely room for improvement, but for a group, I thought we played pretty well. We just need to keep getting ready and keep getting better.”

On the execution of the Falcons offense:
“We had some running game checks that we missed and we need to make next time. We had a couple of little protection problems. We moved the ball well when I was in there anyway. For the most part, we did well. I thought we moved the ball pretty well. The receivers did a good job and the offensive line did a great job.”

How did you feel after you scored your first touchdown of the preseason?
“I was just excited to get on the field. I know that WR Laurent Robinson wasn’t going to be able to play so I felt that I needed to take advantage of the opportunity. I felt that QB Joey Harrington and our offensive line did their job of leading the offense and it felt great to score a touchdown for our team.”

On playing special teams:
“I think special teams is very important and it is a great opportunity to make the team. I wasn’t that happy with my play tonight, but hopefully in the future I can make some plays out there for my team.”