Ron Rivera presser transcript - Falcons Game

[Jeremy Igo]

Head Coach Ron Rivera

RE: Evaluation of Kyle Allen’s performance today and any concerns with his learning curve
No. No. I’m not concerned with Kyle’s learning curve. What I’m concerned about is his growing pains. He is a young quarterback who is going to make young mistakes. But that’s why you put him out there because, again, there is a learning curve. You are absolutely right. But I’m not worried about it. He threw the ball in the directions he needed to, he just didn’t do the things he was supposed to do. That’s the thing that he will learn and grow with. We are going to go and we are going to live with his learning pains because that’s what the game is all about. This is what, a year and a half, eighth game I think or ninth game? He’s going to get better.

RE: Help for Kyle Allen
Yes, he does. We have to be able to protect him and it was unfortunate we didn’t protect the quarterback the way we are capable of. We have too many good football players who have to do a better job. But I also want to give the other team credit too.

RE: Cause of Kyle Allen’s interceptions today
Poor decision making. Again, he has to be able to protect the football and make better decisions to make better throws. But he also has to have a little bit more help like was asked. So I’m going to defer to that.

RE: Greg Little’s performance today
I think Greg is a young guy again. Growing pains when you play young players. It’s kind of difficult, it’s kind of tough for that group to kind of build a little bit of cohesiveness when they don’t have an opportunity to work together as often as you would like. It’s unfortunate because Greg is a good young football player who is going to learn.

RE: Reason behind pulling Taylor Moton out for a series early in the game
We wanted to give Taylor an opportunity to catch his breath. He got beat on a couple of plays and we just wanted to settle him down, give him a little bit of a reset and get him back on the field. It seemed to work a little bit for Taylor.

RE: What happened with Luke Kuechly on the long throw to Julio Jones
He [Matt Ryan] had a little bit more time and, quite honestly, it was a ball that was winged out there pretty far. Julio is a heck of a football player.

RE: Whether it is unusual for Luke Kuechly to be that far
Not necessarily. Again, it could have been part of the call too. Maybe I could have called something
different to put Luke in a better position.

RE: Previous statement that Allen needed more snaps
Yes, he does. That’s exactly what we wanted today. We put some of the other younger guys out there a
little bit sooner to give them opportunity to grow as well.

RE: On differences in the Falcons defense, particularly since the bye week
If you look at something, I would almost say it has something to do with the pass rush. Because if you
look at what happened last week and what happened this week, you have to give credit to that group of
guys. Their pass rush seemed to be ignited a little bit and put some pressure on the quarterbacks.

RE: How disappointing is it to play like that at home and how would you assess it?
Very disappointing. Quite honestly, that’s a little bit of a leading question because I am disappointed.
But it is disappointing. We didn’t play well enough to win. That’s how I would assess it. You want me to
say disappointing and I said disappointing. It was disappointing.

RE: Whether team had the necessary intensity
The thing that we have to look at it is, how hard did we play, did we give ourselves the opportunity.
Unfortunately, we turned the ball over in a bad situation. So, to sit there and attack somebody, whether
he wanted to play hard or not, that’s not fair. You make mistakes. People make mistakes. That’s life. You
are going to make mistakes in life. Are you living life to the fullest? Are we playing football to the fullest?
Are we giving a good effort? Sure seemed like it. Just unfortunate things happened. Again, as I said, you
have to give the other team credit too. Let’s not forget, there are two teams on the football field.

RE: Changes made at halftime to get offense going
Well, not turn the ball over and take the ball away. That’s kind of the thing that really if you look at the
difference, that’s probably one of the biggest things, indicators out there that we didn’t do the things we
needed to do. We turned the ball over when you get near the red zone, that’s tough. Then if you don’t
take it away when you have opportunities, that’s tough as well because, again, you can gain the
momentum and take the game back.

RE: Whether going for it on 4th down in first half was effort to spark momentum
Absolutely. I felt that some of the things that we did during the week, I thought were really good. I really
did. We had them pegged for some of the stuff and we were able to execute and convert. I liked what
we were doing. I really did. Unfortunately, we didn’t execute the way we needed to.

RE: On the decision to kick the field goal when down 26-0
Put points on the board. You don’t want to get shut out. You really don’t, especially at home. So kick the
field goal, take the points. At the end of the day, you have to say at least you can keep your head up for
something.

RE: Whether Kyle Allen was doing too much as you said he was a few weeks ago
Probably. Forced a couple. And sometimes certain things happened that you look at and you see on the
field and you wonder how [they occurred].

RE: On punt return for a touchdown
I almost say on that one, to be honest, is he out kicked his coverage. He kicked the crap out of the ball.
When you spread your coverage team that much, that thinly, all he really needed to do was get one
seam and that’s what happened. Kenjon [Barner] is a pretty good returner. He has been a returner in
the league for about eight or nine years so he knows how to return a football. I personally from my own
perspective, I thought the ball was kicked too far, if there is such a thing.

RE: Your general message in locker room after a game like today
Get over it. I told them, I said ‘hey, if after you answer the questions about today, tomorrow when you
come back in you can start answering questions about the next game.’ That’s what I said. Honestly, I told
them it’s time to move forward.

RE: Tough day for Greg Little
Absolutely. He is a young guy. He has a lot to learn and it’s the growing pains we will go through with
him. When you play that many young guys, you are going to have some growing pains. But the nice
thing is they are young guys that are playing and that’s the best part. That’s the thing you can say about
Kyle [Allen]. Did you learn a lot of lessons today? I hope so. He is a good young football player who is
doing some really good things for us. But, today he got overwhelmed.

RE: On the one thing you would like Kyle Allen to take away from this game
That you don’t have to try and do everything by yourself. He really did. He played hard. Sure, he made a
couple bad mistakes but at the end of the day, he tried. That’s all you can do is give him credit for trying
to play football, trying to win a game.

RE: Whether Brian Burns hand/wrist is still bothering him
A little bit. It’s tough because you really can’t grab and pull like he wants to.

RE: Whether penalties hurt the team today
Yes, they did. Which is surprising because we are one of the least penalized teams in the league so that
was a tough pill to swallow. That really is. You see some things that go on out there and you just wonder
why, how and what’s the interpretation. We will go through it, we will watch it and I will send it in and
ask the league for explanation just so I understand and I can relay that to our players.

RE: Whether you would have liked to see Kyle Allen hold onto the ball when he had his first
interception
It’s hard to say because again, he is trying to make a play. That’s the thing about it. When a guy is really
putting it out there, you just want to see him make a better decision, in all honesty. You can’t fault guys
for trying hard, for trying to win. That’s just one thing you just can’t do. Sometimes it leads to mistakes
and this one got us.
 

[GoPanthers123]

Ron is being dishonest here, he is not saying missed opportunities because it sounded stupid.  So now he is just pure BSing his way.

[Sirpurrsom3885]

This man is barely awake. It’s a lack of intelligence. He is more interested in guys wearing ties on the bus then he is about finding a competent return guy. Why can we not develop wide receivers? Why can we not find a punt returner who wont muff punts?  Do we practice punt returning? Ron’s era needed viagra since he began, it’s limp, it’s lame and it mandates a tie about winning. 

[Sirpurrsom3885]

1 minute ago, Sirpurrsom3885 said:

This man is barely awake. It’s a lack of intelligence. He is more interested in guys wearing ties on the bus then he is about finding a competent return guy. Why can we not develop wide receivers? Why can we not find a punt returner who wont muff punts?  Do we practice punt returning? Ron’s era needed viagra since he began, it’s limp, it’s lame and it mandates a tie about winning. 

Over winning* 

[BurnHurnBurn]

Zero self reflection.  Only pointing to others faults.  What a turd.

[PantherBoy95]

I wonder how the punter will feel when he sees him say "He kicked it too far" lol.
I'm no football wizard though; just seems like...that's what we normally hope for lol

[Jeremy Igo]

10 minutes ago, PantherBoy95 said:

I wonder how the punter will feel when he sees him say "He kicked it too far" lol.
I'm no football wizard though; just seems like...that's what we normally hope for lol

He did out kick the coverage. That's really a thing. Jake Delhomme pointed it out on the broadcast as it was happening. 

[BIGH2001]

I know these answers are contrived but it pisses me off just reading them.  I wish for once he would act like he cares that we have suffered 3 of the worst defeats in team history in the last 2 years under his watch. 

[Toomers]

17 minutes ago, PantherBoy95 said:

I wonder how the punter will feel when he sees him say "He kicked it too far" lol.
I'm no football wizard though; just seems like...that's what we normally hope for lol

Should have stopped there If you haven’t ever heard of “outkicking your coverage.” Heck, it’s even a figure of speech for having a lady that is much better looking than you. 

[jfra78]

TLDR: 

The players need to execute....missed opportunities 

[PantherBoy95]

1 hour ago, Toomers said:

Should have stopped there If you haven’t ever heard of “outkicking your coverage.” Heck, it’s even a figure of speech for having a lady that is much better looking than you. 

I've most definitely heard of the phrase and get it. Doesn't seem like that's what happened on that play was more so my point. If it is what happened, cool I'm not opposed to being wrong, reason for the disclaimer.

I get it; big loss. You may be frustrated. Have a great one.

[PantherBoy95]

1 hour ago, Jeremy Igo said:

He did out kick the coverage. That's really a thing. Jake Delhomme pointed it out on the broadcast as it was happening. 

I definitely trust Jake more than myself when it comes to that, so yeah my bad lol
Seemed like there was someone with an opportunity to make the play....just got turned around.

[Toomers]

4 minutes ago, PantherBoy95 said:

I've most definitely heard of the phrase and get it. Doesn't seem like that's what happened on that play was more so my point.

I get it; big loss. You may be frustrated. Have a great one.

  All evidence provided by you in your post would lead anyone to assume you have NEVER heard that before. In your own words. 
 
   I’m the last person that cares if we lost. Just pointing out the ignorance of your comment. 

[Cary Kollins]

RE: Whether team had the necessary intensity
The thing that we have to look at it is, how hard did we play, did we give ourselves the opportunity.
Unfortunately, we turned the ball over in a bad situation. So, to sit there and attack somebody, whether
he wanted to play hard or not, that’s not fair. You make mistakes. People make mistakes. That’s life. You
are going to make mistakes in life. Are you living life to the fullest? Are we playing football to the fullest?
Are we giving a good effort? Sure seemed like it. Just unfortunate things happened. Again, as I said, you
have to give the other team credit too. Let’s not forget, there are two teams on the football field.

 

 

Like WTF is he blabbering about. What I take away from that entire transcript is a man afraid to take ownership. I have faith Tepper will see this typical Rivera BS for what it is.