On his evaluation of the Atlanta Falcons' defense:
"Physical. They play fast. You can see it on tape. They swarm to the ball. Some guys are dealing with a couple of injuries, but they are having guys step up and play for them. They are playing well as a unit."
On dealing with situations of inaccuracy:
"The deep shots, I think the one to (WR Breshad) Perriman in the end zone and also the one that went just over (TE David) Njoku's head – he touched it with one hand – but those are things that I have to give them a chance. Have to put it into the best position for them to make a play. I will get that fixed. Sometimes physical mistakes happen. That is the frustrating part, it is that I expect to make those throws."
On areas that he has seen personal growth:
"Communication. Knowledge of the offense. Just the checks that we are making. What I am seeing and being able to eliminate. I think that I made a big jump last week with that. I expect to do the same this week."
On what is the next step of development for the offense:
"Continuing to score points – touchdowns. I think just being able to finish and take advantage of our shot plays when we have them. Making those plays and converting on third downs. We were not as good on third down as we wanted to be, but luckily we went for it so many times that we were pretty good on fourth down (laughter). I think that if we are better on third down, we can make a big jump and keep those drives moving and just making the plays when we have them."
On why the offense was not successfully converting the two-point conversion attempts:
"They zoned off one of them that we were expecting to get a little bit more of man coverage on it. We just have to be able to execute and react to what they are doing. If they are going to throw a little bit of a change up in there, we have to be able to make a play and go through it. What it comes down to, you have to be able to execute. It is very detailed down there because there is not a lot of time and space. You have to be able to do your job and be very sound in that. You cannot hesitate and you cannot miss the windows. Just better execution."
On if it is 'too risky' to run the ball on two-point conversion attempts:
"Yeah, I mean you are risking running from the two-yard line. Linebackers are not going to get depth. It is different. It is whatever you are going to call."
On preventing injuries from impacting the team's psyche:
"I think it goes back to having that 'next man up' mentality. Making sure that our guys know that they are always one play away. You do not want to have that, but at the same time you have to have people involved that know the game plan. Just realize that there are no excuses. You have to be able to do your job. That is why you are in the NFL. That is why you are here."
On if he feels more trust in the receiving corps with the development of RB Duke Johnson Jr. in the passing game and the return of WR Rashard Higgins from injury:
"I had trust in it before. But yeah, these are guys that I had more reps with. As I continue to get more reps with Breshad Perriman, it is only going to continue to grow. Obviously, any time that you get back out there with guys that you have been throwing with it is going to be more comfortable, but it was not a matter of a trust issue."
On if getting Johnson Jr. involved more in the passing game was an emphasis in the week's preparations, or if it was what fit in the matchup with Kansas City:
"A little bit of both. There were sometimes where we had the matchups that we wanted and Duke was able to make plays. Like the first touchdown that we scored. Just getting the ball into his hands, creating a play for him, but then he does the rest. That is the type of stuff that we want to do with any of our playmakers. Get the ball into their hands and let them do the work."
On if Perriman's role in the offense can increase:
"Absolutely. We have to be able to stretch the field. We have to be able to threaten people down the field with shots. We have to be able to make those plays. Like I said, when they are there. He is one of those guys that when he has the capability of doing that. We are going to continue to grow and get better as we go along."
On he is getting closer to accomplishing a 'complete game' for himself:
"For me, it is just getting better every week. I think that there was a big jump into last week. I have to make that and more so into this week. I have to continue to grow on it. Eliminating the mistakes that I made in the past and learning from those. Not making the same mistake twice. That is what I think the key to improving at a good rate is, not making that same mistake twice. Seeing the looks and learning from it. Like I said, putting us into a good position to win."
On if he studied Falcons QB Matt Ryan in the past at all:
"I have not. I have just enjoyed watching him play at a high level consistently."
On if he is still experiencing new looks from defenses each week:
"No. I think that at this point in the season, we have kind of seen a little bit of everything. Considering our training camp against our own defense, we have seen a little bit of everything, defensive wise. It is just that some teams are more specialty on certain looks, so we just have to be ready when we go into the week."
On how he is handling the recent string of losses:
"Losing sucks. There is no way around that. Have to be able to push forward. Like I said after the game, we have to be able to find the positives right now and build on those. Once we continue to do that, we are able to focus on eliminating the negatives after that. It is about finding out what we need as a team. Right now, that is leadership and being able to continually improve every week."
On if his leadership is what keeps the rest of the team thinking positively:
"We still have a lot of games left. If I was down about it, I do not think that I would be the man for the job."
On approaching the one-year anniversary of the incident at Kansas last year:
"That is your question? OK. I have answered about that many times, so I am good on that one."
On what the past year has been like for him:
"It has been kind of a roller coaster. Thought that I would finish college football with a National Championship, so that was disappointing. Going through the draft process, the criticism, all of that stuff – it is just interesting. A lot of eye-opening things that I have gone through. A lot of lessons and just meeting new people, influential people. All good things, all exciting things that have led to me ultimately doing my dream job and having a chance to play quarterback in the NFL."
On if he compares himself to the other rookie quarterbacks:
"No. I will see what they are doing just to keep up with them, because we have done a lot of stuff together. I'm not comparing. Not worried about that. Worried about the Cleveland Browns."
On sharing the field with QBs like Ryan and the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger:
"It is exciting to watch. And even when I was not playing, watching (Saints QB) Drew Brees down in New Orleans. Those are guys that I watched for years. And so, if anything, going down there and being able to take away certain things from them – watching their game, how they lead, how they execute and how they control the game. I think a great example is (Chargers QB) Philip Rivers a couple of weeks ago. There are different things I can take away from each guy. They are all good at different things and specializing in things, so it has been fun to compete against them."
On the postgame exchanges with the veteran quarterbacks:
"Yeah, it is short and sweet. You keep it short and sweet. You understand that you have to go into the locker room and move on next week."
On how the game has slowed down for him:
"I think it has continually slowed down week by week. Just being able to see different stuff and just learn from it and not make the same mistake twice. That is a big part of the game slowing down."
On if it was frustrating watching the late helmet-to-helmet hit he received last game on film:
"I think it would be more frustrating if it hurt."
On if it was frustrating a flag was not thrown:
"I was more frustrated they took me out of the game. They are protecting me and they are doing their job. So ultimately, what can I complain about? They are doing their job. I think when it comes down to all of that, there is a lot of criticism on the helmet-to-helmet stuff, because they are trying to find the consistency. With each referee, they are all different how they see those hits and they see it in action. Some guys do not have a great view on it. They might not – they will say the play was still going on, the guy was already having momentum and stuff like that. It is just different, so they are trying to figure it out, too."
On how he handles the inconsistency of when flags are thrown:
"It is very surprising. It is funny to see some of the referees chitchat with guys on the field. I do not know. I think as the years go on, we will get better relationships and we will see as it goes. And we will improve as a team, too."
On if every opponent has thrown something new that he has not seen on film:
"They always have a little changeup here and there, but you figure that out once you come off the sideline and once you see the pictures of what they are doing. You want to see what wrinkle they are going to try in the week. But teams, they just roll with what they have and trust that. They trust that to get the job done. It is kind of the mentality of 'okay here we are, you just better outplay us.' It is different, yeah. But there are a lot of things that I have seen so far. There have been some new things, but I have to learn on the fly."
On if he is seeing genius-type things on film from Falcons head coach Dan Quinn that he needs to figure out:
"Yeah. They do a good job disguising certain looks and kind of messing with you. Him being a defensive coach just means he is good at his craft. They are going to do what they do and they are going to do it very, very well. We have to be ready for that. We have to be ready for what they have shown on tape and also, like I said, for a wrinkle they are going to throw in for the week."
On what he likes about RB Nick Chubb since Chubb became the starter:
"How physical he is. I think the consistency of – it is very rare for him to get taken down by one player. The extra yards once he hits the pile and pushes it – it goes a long way. It wears down on a defense when they think they have him wrapped up, but he pushes it another four yards. It is the shortest of gains when it comes down to it, but it is huge in the long run for moving the chains."
On what he liked specifically from OL Greg Robinson last game:
"He is physical. I think he did not hesitate whatsoever. I think he is a guy that has been there before. I think for Greg, he needs people to support him. I think it comes down to it, we believe in Greg. We trust he is more than capable of playing at this level and doing it at a very high level. And so, we saw that on Sunday. We saw him be physical. We saw him do his job, we saw him communicate and that is the most important thing. We have to be able to do that. We trust he does that."
On if the plays should be looked at regardless of any helmet hit to a quarterback:
"Yeah, they just have to find their consistency. I said it earlier; with every referee, it is different. How they see it, how they are seeing the plays, momentum, the whistle, when it is blown and stuff like that. It is just different with every ref. So as they continue to try to force the same rule, I think the consistency will grow. But right now, that is why you are seeing some confusion."
On if he fought to stay on the field after the helmet hit:
"Yeah. I guess that is the new rule. I have to come off the field for a checkup."
On if the officiating in college was just as inconsistent:
"No. I had a bunch of friends out there (laughter), so it was good."
