Atlanta Falcons 30 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17
Q. I know it's early, but can you give me some reflection on how you felt today? And did you feel that you continued the path of progress through these four games?
DESMOND RIDDER: Yeah. 100 percent. Early on we didn't get started as fast as we wanted to, and then the run game kind of helped us settle in, settle down, and then, you know, we got going. But like I said, I like to be one percent better every single day, whether that's going out there to practice or coming in for meetings, but it's one percent better every single day and every single week.
Q. Can you just talk about how the offense progressed and the offensive line and everybody, how it grew throughout the year and how you were able to run the football and open things upper places?
DESMOND RIDDER: Yeah. Obviously the basis of any offense is going to be the guys up front. And we go off them and how they go. So whether it's run game or pass game, they want to dominate the line of scrimmage, which they've done. As an offense, as a team, we've had these up-and-downs, but one thing that's stayed consistent is those guys up front. So it's a tribute to those guys and the hard work that they put in and everything that they do in their work, in their daily appreciation at practice. But like I said, it's a tribute to those guys up front, and we go off them.
Q. You might have answered this already, but do you feel like you've shown enough in these four games to have the job next year?
DESMOND RIDDER: Yeah. You know, that's not my call, and I'm going to go out there and play my game and do what I do. At the end of the day I don't care about stats and what it looks like but at the end of the day I want to win, so that's who I am as a person, I want to be a winner, I want to be a competitor, but like I said, it's not my call. I just want to win.
Q. What did you feel that you took the most or maybe learned the most from these four weeks that you think might help you going forward?
DESMOND RIDDER: Just be patient. Take what's there. Don't try to do too much. Don't try to force anything. Gonna have guys open. You're going to see guys. Just make this there. So that's what not only today but over the past four weeks, it's just been staying calm and just taking what they give you.
Q. This season ended not the way you guys wanted it to end, but what would your message be to the fans?
DESMOND RIDDER: We're going to come back better. This was, like I said, was an up and down ride the entire season. There were a couple of times where we wanted to get over the hump and we wanted to keep it going. We had a couple of setbacks. Our goal for these past two games was to finish 2 and 0, to start the new year 2 and 0 and 2023, so where we have the momentum to come in, put in the work in the off season and get better for next year. So I know every single person, every single coach, player is excited to go to their respective cities to get better and then to come back together in the spring and go back to work.
Q. Desmond, how do you feel the blending of the run game and the passing game went for you all today?
DESMOND RIDDER: I felt like it was pretty good. Like I said before, you know, most offenses in the league, in high school, little league, whatever it is, they want to start with the run game. They want to dominate the run game and that's going to set up the pass game. So like we said, we have a dominate offensive lineup front and a great run attack by CP, Avery and Tyler to help set up those pass plays a lot easier.
Q. And for the future what does it bode given that Drake London finished so strong and Tyler also finished strong this year?
DESMOND RIDDER: You know, it's huge for them. I'm happy for what they did and how they finished. I know that those are two hard-working guys, and they're not going to settle for anything. They're not going to look back on this season and see what they did and come out next year and not do the same. I know they're going to work that much harder to try to do that much better.
Q. To follow up on that with Drake and Tyler, when you met them at rookie mini camp, could you see kind of how this year was going to trend for them? If you kind are just looking at them when you knew them then and kind of now where they're at now?
DESMOND RIDDER: Yeah, I would say rookie mini camp was -- there was a lot of clouds going on in everyone's head. I don't know about seeing much more outside of the play book and trying to execute the job, but you know, you could see that these guys, like I said, they're hard workers. They're determined, and you know they're going to show up every day and go to work. So when you have guys like that, you know that they're going to be successful at the end of the day.
Q. I know you talked before at length about this offensive line, and Arthur Smith said kind of when we were talking to him earlier that essentially the foundation and identity of this offense kind of starts with them and started with them this season. Is that kind of something that you saw not just in the last four games from them, but all this season from them?
DESMOND RIDDER: 100 percent. And you know, we don't just have to talk about offensively either. It's a defensive fronted, too. That's one thing that our team prides ourselves on is just being big on both sides of the ball, dominating the line of scrimmage, you know. If you're on defense, not letting the quarterback feel comfortable back there. If you're on offense, push the guys in front of you back as far as they can go. So when you rely heavily on that, it helps us out. But, no, you know, it's a tribute to those guys, their hard work, but we go off those guys, both offense and defense.
Q. If do you feel like your confidence has gone up over the course of this four-game experience, and if so, why would you say that?
DESMOND RIDDER: Yeah, for sure. You can't come into this game without confidence. The defensive coordinator is going to see that and they're going to feast on you. But with repetitions as anyone does, whether it's a reporting job or the National Football League quarterback, the more you do, the more repetitions you get, the more comfortable you're going to get and the better you're going to be. So, yeah, I feel like I got comfortable and just kind of progressed every single week.
Q. Can you take me through the first touchdown pass? It looked like you kind of baited him in to coming in and uncovering MyCole there?
DESMOND RIDDER: Yeah. At that time I'm extending the play, getting outside the pocket, just trying to make the play. I'm seeing the window whether I should run, whether I should throw and anytime we're out of the pocket, Coach "Rags" always talks about, Coach Ragone always talks about just attacking the line of scrimmage. When you attack the line of scrimmage, it's going to make the defenders either pick you or pick Pru. So they gotta pick one or the other, so I just extended as long as I could and Pru popped open. So it was a great play by him by just staying available.
Q. You said in the last couple of weeks you've had some time to think about how you were going to celebrate the first TD pass when it actually happened. Did you remember any of those plans?
DESMOND RIDDER: Nah. It was just pure emotion. You know, me and Pru just screaming in each other's face. And then I was looking for the ball, and I see CP run over and go grab it for me. He knew I was waiting on that, too. He wanted to be the one last week to get it, but it was just a huge testament to all those guys just giving me the ability to go do that.
Q. I was going to ask, you do have that ball?
DESMOND RIDDER: I do. Yes. I do have that ball. That ball will be with me.
Q. And to follow up on the confidence question when you were given the ability to stay on the field on a fourth down play, did you feel like that was confidence being shown to you from Arthur Smith?
DESMOND RIDDER: Oh, yeah. 100 percent. Not only just me, but in the offense as a whole. You know, he trusts all 11 guys out there, and if he didn't, he wouldn't have put us out there in that situation. So it's not only the confidence in myself that he has, but all 11 guys out there on the field.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports