On the loss
“Quite honestly, we didn’t coach to our abilities or play to our abilities.”
On the defensive struggles on third down
“That was probably our biggest disappointment. We had some good third and long situations, and did not get to the quarterback. Again, give them credit. Their guys made some plays with their feet and got outside the pocket a couple of times.”
On the penalty against CB Charles Tillman on the Falcons’ first drive
“That was huge. That’s one of those things we will have to look at and talk to the league office about what happened … We should have gotten off the field and we didn’t. I’m not making any excuses. They scored the touchdown and it’s 7-7. Bottom line, you’ve got opportunities you have to make plays.”
On needing to bounce back from a loss
“We’ve accomplished a lot. To be 14-1 at this point in the season is tremendous, so let’s not lose sight of that. This is not the end of the world, obviously. It’s not even the end of the season.”
On how much losing a chance at an undefeated season hurt
“It didn’t tickle.”
On bouncing back from the loss
“There are no magic words that need to be said. We don’t wave a magic wand or anything like that. We got our ass kicked today and to a degree we deserved it. Offensively, defensively, and special teams, I’m talking with a mirror in front of my face. There are some plays that we left out there. We knew it. Yet we know what we are capable of. We are 14-1 right now. We put ourselves in the situation where we can use this as fuel.”
On preparation during a holiday week, including a day when he missed some practice time
“I didn’t miss enough practice to have it be a problem. I left with five plays, to clear that up. This week of practice, when coach gives us opportunities and takes care of his guys like he has been all year, we can’t make him question if he should have or what he should have done in that situation. We have too many great leaders on this team. Too much riding on this season to sit back and say this week wasn’t important. That’s bullcrap. We had a couple great days of practice.”
On if his touchdown celebration of rocking the ball like a baby had any significance
“No, sir. And I’m going to leave it at that.”
On whether he thinks the starters will play next Sunday
“We got a game next week, right? We are going to play next week.”
On the loss
“We picked a bad day to have a bad day. Obviously, we knew that this was their Super Bowl and that their whole season came down to this today. We wanted to win one game, and we are obviously disappointed that we didn’t. We played poorly. Give them credit. They did what they needed to do to win and we didn’t.”
On what plagued the offense
“I don’t know. Probably a multitude of things, but at the same time we aren’t going to panic or overreact. We are 14-1 and 31 other teams wished that they had our record. We aren’t going to sit here and act like the world is coming to an end … It will burn for a little while, especially if things go for us next week we will look back on this. That’s the nature of this game. It’s hard, it’s competitive and every team comes out and plays for their lives every week. We just picked a bad day to play poorly.”
On losing for in the regular season for the first time in nearly 400 days
“Guys are not used to losing. It kind of sucks, man.”
On looking at the positives of the Panthers’ situation
“We’re very blessed and fortunate enough to be in this position we are. Look, we’re 14-1. How many other teams in the league can say that?”
On trying to bounce back from the loss
“I think this will be a real learning experience. Some of the young guys haven’t lost all year. Coach Rivera hasn’t had to give the ‘loss talk.’ These things are good for us. We’ll be better because of it.”
On falling for the first time this year
“If you told us that we would be 14-1 at this point in the season, then everyone would be happy. Obviously, this is not what we wanted to happen. We want to win every game, but sometimes you have a little bump that you have to get over, focus on the next game, and learn from it.”
On losing a chance to go undefeated
“That is something that is in the back of your mind. You think about it from time to time, but the focus is winning the game that you are playing that week. The game we played this week was against Atlanta, and unfortunately, we did not win the game.It is not the end of our season, but it is the end of that streak and now it is time for us to do our job and start another one.”
On immediately countering the Panthers’ opening drive
“I thought that was a really important one. If you remember on the play, I think there was a third-down stop and it ended up being a foul on the play where we ended up getting a first down. For us to have a chance to go answer after they went down to score, I thought that was a really crucial part of the game especially on that first drive. They had just driven all the way down, scored, we were almost three and out, and that penalty allowed that drive to get going. I think that was what gave us the momentum right off the bat.”
On the 70-yard touchdown from QB Matt Ryan to WR Julio Jones
“Yeah, we drew that one up a number of times. No, honestly, it was an example of two guys who have a special connection and making a play come alive where Matt got flushed out of the pocket and gave Julio a shot. Generally when you throw it in his direction, good things usually happen and that was the case on that one.”
On Jones’ 70-yard touchdown
“To be able to escape the pocket and realize he’s down there with a safety and a linebacker, I feel like that’s a good chance for us to throw up a ball and give him an opportunity to make a play. I really don’t feel like there’s anybody in the league who’s better in that situation than him.”
On Panthers celebrating during their Week 14 win
“I didn’t like that, but that’s what they are as a team. They have guys parading around back-and-forth and jumping around, but we tend to save stuff like that for after the game.”