Panther 19, Falcons 13
Q. (Off mic)
MATT RYAN: Yeah, it was one of those plays when you are in a tight game like we were today, you know, your possessions are limited, and as a group, we didn't make enough plays. I had the turnover early in the game where that could have been a different ballgame too. You come away with points. We didn't make the play on the third down that you referenced towards the end where we had a chance to get back up, and you got to make those plays. We got to make those plays as a team, and we'll do that moving forward. We didn't make that today. Credit to Carolina. I thought they played well. Their defense did a great job and played well and did a better job today.
Q. How about the hand?
MATT RYAN: Yeah, the hand is fine. It was just a cut.
Q. Their defense is a lot different with Shaq Thompson and Gilmore out there today.
MATT RYAN: Yeah, I know. I've played against Shaq for a long time, and he is a really talented player. He has great size and speed, great instinct. He made a nice play on the interception today. He is a good player. And as well as Gilmore, you know, came in and did a nice job. It's a good defense. We'll see them again, but we certainly need to play better football next time we go against them.
Q. How does this offense change without Calvin?
MATT RYAN: You know, he is a great player, and you try and utilize other guys when he is not up, and so we still have enough players. We trust the guys that are up on game day to go make plays; and, unfortunately, we just fell short of that today.
Q. Is it maybe moving down field a little bit more, is that where they can hurt you guys?
MATT RYAN: Yeah, he is a great player. He has the ability to stretch the defense, and he is quick. He has cuts. He does a great job versus zone coverage versus man coverage. There again, you have to play with the guys we have available, and, ultimately, as a group we fell short today.
Q. As far as Russell was targeted, were they doing something that gave him away or that just --
MATT RYAN: Just how the game shakes out sometimes. The call comes in. You try to do your best to identify the defense and what you are going against. To me guys have to stay patient at certain times. The ball is going to find different guys through the course of the year, and Russ has been a good player for us for a number of years, and so I anticipate that's going to be the case moving forward.
Q. Did you think the late notice on Calvin's absence had any affect today more so than if you had known Wednesday?
MATT RYAN: I've been in the league a long time. Until you get to Sunday, there's a lot of things that can happen, and it's no different than an injury and any other spot. Sometimes in game time decisions have you to adjust. It's part of being a professional and going out there and being ready to go. I don't think it affected the guys, but certainly wish Calvin all best. We love him and support him. He is a great friend and great person. We all support him as he is going through this.
Q. How did you think Kyle played matched up against Gilmore and a lot of the game?
MATT RYAN: I thought there was in good and some we could do better. I thought he competed really hard. That's one of the best defensive players in the game. He has been defensive player of the year. It's a great learning opportunity for Kyle moving forward, and I think he'll be better off for going against guys like that. I think that's where you really learn how to become the best version of yourself.
Q. Do you see some things today that you are trying to think that about he could have done better?
MATT RYAN: No. You've got to watch the tape. I think there's -- when you are playing, you just move on to the next play. You're not going back and judging anything on game day. It's about playing together and going out there and competing as a unit and as a team and finding a way to get the job done. We need to do that.
Q. The interception you threw in the first half, that was while your hand was bleeding pretty badly. Was that affecting you at all even though it's the off hand?
MATT RYAN: No, no. It didn't affect me. I just -- the fact that it was a good play, and I've got to be better than that.
Q. Matt, statistically I think this was the second fewest yards you've had in a full game in your career. Did it seem like things just weren't working out today? Was it kind of a nightmare experience, or how would you kind of describe what happened today?
MATT RYAN: I've been through worse, unfortunately, but it's just -- there was a low possession game. They did a good job on the offensive side of the ball for Carolina running the football. Kind of shrinking the clock. We knew going into it if that was the case, then you have to be opportunistic, and you can't worry about what the stats are. You just have to find a way to get it done. I thought we had chances, and just didn't make the plays when we needed to, but we certainly were in that football game all the way through it.
Q. What about being opportunistic and the third down (Off mic) -- I know we talked about putting yourself in first and second down. (Off mic)
MATT RYAN: They played well. I think that's part of this league there. I tell our young guys all the time, we need to be humble in this league because there are good players across the board, and some days are like that. You have to have the mental strength to come back tomorrow to get back to work, be honest with what we did well, what we didn't do well and make sure that we're better than what we were today moving forward because we're going to see good football teams and good defenses as we go through the months of November, December, and January.
Q. Moving forward, what are your thoughts on Sharp?
MATT RYAN: I think Tajae has done a good job all year. At different times where he has been asked to go in and make plays, I thought he did that for us today. Made a couple of good plays. I have a lot of confidence in Tajae that he will go in and be a good player for us.
Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports