New Orleans Saints 27 - Atlanta Falcons 26.
Q. Grady, as a captain, how will you try to lead in this situation for this game today?
GRADY JARRETT: You know what, I think the message is simple. We just gotta go back to work and Trump this one up. We'll get to see these guys later in the year. Definitely unfortunate how the game ended today, but we still got a lot of work ahead of us.
Q. Grady, what do you think happened in the fourth quarter? How did this fall apart for you guys?
GRADY JARRETT: It's going to take some going back and looking at tape, but clearly we got some things to fix. So we gotta fix it.
Q. Pressure wise, you had more sacks today than you did all of last year. Where were you guys able to get pressure and at what point did you realize there were going to be opportunities to get pressure?
GRADY JARRETT: You know, it's good to get to the quarterback today from the whole front. And also some blitzes as well. And we had a couple coverage attacks as well. So it was a whole defensive effort. But we gotta finish the game. It's encouraging to get to the quarterback, but you want to win.
Q. What did they change maybe protection wise in the fourth quarter, because really up until that really quick strike drive you guys were able to get the quarterback, and then you really didn't after that.
GRADY JARRETT: Yeah, the passes were a little quicker, and changed so the protection slid a little bit more. And then, also, just moving the pocket a little bit as you can see a couple of the plays wasn't just stagnant, so they started being a little more Mobile as far as moving the pocket and not just sitting there. So I mean they made some adjustments and we just gotta make some as well.
Q. Did the tempo change enough for the Saints' offense that kind of affected how the defense was able to pressure them?
GRADY JARRETT: I'm not sure if it was a tempo thing. Like I said, just being in the present moment, you gotta go back and look and see what was really going on, you know. And so I don't know if it was a tempo thing. They did push the ball down the field towards the end, tried to get back, obviously they had to go tempo because the time was running out. So I don't know if the tempo was -- I mean, I don't -- it is what it is.
Q. Grady, I know it's a new year with a new team, but the elder states man of this defense you've seen this script before of league games. In your experience in other years, what's needed to get out of it so it doesn't become a trend?
GRADY JARRETT: You know what, we just gotta go back to work, man. I could sit up here and I said that before. But it's simple. You know, we gotta finish. We gotta finish the game as a whole team, and that takes everybody doing their job. And there's more than one play in the game that determines the outcome of a game. So everybody takes a part in it. So I think that's the thing we have to know going forward, but I can tell you I'm encouraged with this team because we came out there and we played, we had great energy. We had the stadium rocking. It's probably one of the most, if not the most exciting I've seen the team, just making some big plays on offense and defense and the fans just giving us everything they got. It was a beautiful scene today. And you know what, we want to make these fans proud and come out and respond from this win. I mean from this loss and then just continue to stack up some wins so we can keep it, you know, turnt up like that. I mean it was just an amazing scene. I just don't want it to go to waste, you know. Because that's what we can be, man. We just gotta finish the game. Unfortunately we came up short, and there's no excuse for this, and we gotta go back to work.
Q. Grady, you were talking about the scenes from today. You were really animated down there on the sideline. I think it's the most you've probably been in a while. What was it today that just really had you going?
GRADY JARRETT: I mean, I missed playing football, man! It's the first game of the season against the Saints. You ain't got no blood form for that. Shoot, I'm excited making some big plays. I just love playing the game. That's why I do what I do, you know, at this point in my career it's all about being the best I can be, and that's what I was putting on display. I mean, shoot, it's fun. It's a fun game to play. I love it.
Q. Grady, you're a holdover from the Super Bowl team. What will you impart on the younger players?
GRADY JARRETT: I'm not a holdover. I earned my way here to this contract to be with this team. It's a blessing to play for the Atlanta Falcons, my hometown team, and I take it year by year, and I earn every stripe that I get going forward. And that's what I'm going to continue to do, and I'm going to continue to put good football on the field and I'm focused on 2022. And, you know, that's what it is.
Q. This is a young team as well. What do you have to do to kind of keep them from lingering too much on this?
GRADY JARRETT: You know, I think like I said earlier, the message is clear. We gotta go back to work. You know, young, vet, whatever it is. If you're on the field, you gotta be able to be ready to do your job because next team we play the Rams don't care about us soaking on this. We gotta go back to work. You know what I'm saying? So the message is simple for anybody, just step on the field and go onto prepare for this next game.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports