Taylor Heinicke, Justin Simmons and more speak after final preseason game | Press Conference

Taylor Heinicke yeah hey uh Taylor could you talk about how tough it was going against their ones and moving the ball here today yeah um you know obviously we knew it was going to be a challenge um but I think the guys had a really good mindset of going into the game it's a great opportunity for us to go against ones kind of put some film out there to see how we can do and I thought we moved the ball pretty well um we got to the Midfield two three times and we just stalled out um but again like you said to do that against those ones uh gives you a little bit of confidence we just we wish we put some uh some points up there Taylor you have more than you know 40 starts in the NFL and you were here last year but you've been honest about what's happened at the quarterback position after tonight uh how how do you feel where you could be the third quarterback on the roster or you could be somewhere else in the NFL yeah you know it's it's one of those stressful times it's it's really the worst time of the NFL for all these guys um just kind of not knowing where you're going to be um for me personally um I did everything I could throughout OTAs and training camp uh when I got the Reps I try to go in there and make the most of it when I wasn't in I was trying to help Kirk and and Mike in any way I could um I would love to be a part of the Falcons um I think this is probably the best roster I've been a part of when you kind of look at it from top to bottom I think raheem's building something special here and I would love to be a part of that uh that being said uh who knows what's going to happen um I I think cut days well on Tuesday um so we'll find out from from tonight until then um but again I would love to be Atlanta Falcon if not um I just I love the game of football I just want to keep playing football so you know that's that's that's the dream Piggyback in a little bit on what you said in all the camps you you've been through this in various places in all the camps you've been through what was this one like what do you think about this team you know what what stood out if anything to you about this group yeah this was a this was a different Camp than uh most um I think Raheem had a different approach to it one that's different than anything I've been through um but you know it obviously works for him um maybe he learned that from LA or something but um you know that we we brought in Simmons we brought in um judon um and kind of going out there and looking at practice every day those guys came out and worked there's a lot of times where we're in full pads you know two three times in a row and the guys were sore and they just came out and kept working um so you know I'm sure every guy in that locker room would tell you it was it was a little rough but we got better every day you could see it so um again that's you see you see a lot of special things during practice during camp and those are the things that make me want to stay here anything else um on the fourth and three um and you go deep what did you see on this side that make you go deep or you thought Casey could be this guy and you know you're trying to get points of course yeah so we had a little motion come in and we pretty much had a a shallow from number three like a little 5 yard in from number two um and based on how they played that motion it looked like they just bumped so it was like a cover three and for that for that concept you don't really like cover three and supposed how they're supposed to play it so I saw Casey one-on-one backside and thought I give them a chance um of course I go back and look at the iPad and uh their linebacker kind of messed up so that number two was open um so again it's it's it's little things like that you kind of just keep working on seeing see see more of that on film and then you know maybe make the right decision next time just curious uh you've been a veteran what is your overall thought on a number three quarterback last year the NFL saw the most quarterback in the history of the league hit the field uh just your overall thoughts on the position of you know third quarterback on a roster yeah um I think it's I think it's good for the NFL um you know you go back I think it was two years ago NFC Championship game and those two quarterbacks got hurt and people don't really want to watch a big- Time game and not have a quarterback in there so um you know great example from last year was Case Keenum um he was third string in Houston I think he had to come in for a game or two and he's a 12E vet I believe um and he came in did great so you know I think the more quarterbacks you can have um it's good um because there is a lot of injuries you know NFL stands for not for long I think 100% of the guys get injured so um again I kind of always point back to that playoff game two years ago you know you don't want to see receivers or Running Backs play quarterback about Casey Washington your approach through this preseason and what you've kind of learned over these last couple weeks yeah it's it's been uh it's been it's been fun it's been an eye openening experience um just to be out there with uh real pros and um kind of learn as I go on so um it's been exciting and and a blessing to say the least what's the biggest thing you feel like you've kind of learned out there in these three games the speed of the game is is definitely a thing from college to the league that's it's it's different um everyone out there can move around and um physically it's faster but uh at the same time mentally you got to learn how to process things quicker so um for me I've just tried to been um as intentional as as possible and um pick up the Playbook as fast as possible as well how do you feel like you know you kind of performed over these last couple weeks and do you feel like you gave the impression that you wanted to to this front office as coaching staff yeah um I feel like I poured everything out I had um obviously as a um I guess perfectionist mentality or mindset um you want to go back and clean some things up and you see things on film that you can improve on um but I only can control what I can control now um and just leave the rest up to God what are the conversations like now at this point like you know as people are kind of leaving the name plates are coming off some of these lockers like what's the kind of feeling right now uh it's real um it's real uh as as much as this a this a game that you know we've all played from a young age um it's a business um but you know we know that going into this and um we know we know what it is so um all we can do and all I can do personally is put my best foot forward and um see where the chips fall Justin Simmons so you came here during obviously there were fans here today still a preseason environment but what was it like kind of taking in the bz today and it was awesome yeah there were way more fans today than there were and in 2020 that's for sure and uh you know it was exciting I know there's a lot of excitement um you know around Atlanta right now with with the Falcons and um you know we have to earn that right for fans to get excited and you know go win some games but I'm I'm excited to be here on pump to be with the team and ready to get this thing rolling did you have any fans kind of shout you out on the field did you have any interaction with fan today yeah there there was a few there was a few you know um a lot of fans excited that um you know I was here a few that thought I was Jesse um but uh but nonetheless you know it was it was really cool man getting getting to meet um you know some Falcons fans in the stadium and getting a getting a feel for the land and I'm excited man and having everyone kind of dress out and going through your pregame routines and stuff here how good is that to kind of get you guys comfortable you know going into week one yeah I was super appreciative of it you know I know guys that have been here um they know what it looks like they know how to do Do It um you know even with Rob being a um you know new with the head coach here um there's just a lot of new and so you know a lot of guys felt comfortable already what they're gone through but for me I appreciated it coming in seeing the lay of the land in the locker room seeing how people operate um you know talking to the equipment staff getting the gear you need you know to feel good on game day so all the things that you need to go through but um it was great felt seamless what do you get out of preseason games you're kind of listening to calls especially for you kind of learning The Playbook and all that stuff what are you doing on the sideline during a game like this yeah I there's a lot that goes on um you know me personally yeah getting the calls making sure that um you know I have all the things that I need to have for you know the real game and when those things pop up but also um you know not undermining that you know there's people there's guys out there that are that are fighting for their careers right and so um whether you know I know the calls or not you know you know football and you're just giving little tidbits here and there when you can asking what they're seeing um really sometimes even you know you're learning from the guys and what they're seeing out there and so U there's so much that goes on in preseason games and the last thing you want to do is you know you're on the sideline joking and laughing when you know guys are fighting for their lives you want to make sure you're invested because they're invested and uh there was a lot of that today not just for myself but a lot of guys a lot of veterans on the team which you know you can always appreciate are you still on the stage of like meeting people like cuz there's so many people still here on this roster right now you still in that stage like you see someone to make a play like oh that's uh that guy yeah no it is it is that's literally it and um yeah I I try to pride myself in like getting to know people you know and getting to know them by their names and it's just important you know and um that's not just the guys the guys obviously playing but uh the staff right the the training room staff the equipment staff there's just so many names to know and so you try to learn as many as you can as the week weeks go by but um yeah I'm still still learning but it's a great group it's a great group in here and um you don't always have locker rooms like this and I can tell why raw has you know in his in his uh press conferences has been so high on these guys because just in my week of being here man I can see it evaluate your Brandon Dorlus growth from week one of the preseason to now yeah the biggest thing with me is to prove that I can play in the run you know show that I could uh play against these big guys and you know show that I can hang and be dominant uh you know today wasn't my best day but you know had some good plays had some bad plays so biggest thing is just know trying to be consistent throughout the year what's the impression you hope you left on this front office this coaching staff honestly this is just uh bring energy every day you know uh bringing the juice to a room with guys who are older veterans you know uh honestly I that I showed that I was able to you know be a dominant player now just a pass rush and someone that I could be able to trust that's crazy that was right um uh sorry I just totally lost my train of thought on that one but um you know group your growth from week one to in the preseason um what have you kind of gotten out of this preseason and all these NFL game experience reps yeah honestly just you know learning uh new things learning how offensive line man know how they hide Tendencies you know you know in college you know you get a key on some guys but you know in NFL they do a great job hiding their keys so you know biggest thing is you know just trusting my fundamentals trusting the coaching now I've been coached with by coach J Rogers and you know just going out there and playing hard how do you evaluate the entire defenses kind of performance today obviously going up against some of the the Jacksonville starters and stuff yeah honestly I feel like we had a great preseason you know our first two games very solid uh today not the result we wanted uh you know we could have played better as a as a whole against the Run know you know up front we got to take C be as that you know we got to do better up front and uh biggest thing know I'm glad the defense has brought juice every day you know they never gave up they fought and that was the biggest thing I don't think you've ever played in this stadium in college right I did no you did right that was not a good memory though so today hopefully a better experience right yeah for sure better experience you know got to hear the Atlanta fans for the first time you know here uh you know the um what's his name Sam Jackson say rise up for the first time so that was pretty fun just to fill the atmosphere of the Atlanta Falcons fan how does this Stadium kind of rank with obviously you've been to so many I know so many players come in here and they're like wow this one's pretty nice I want say you know everything is just nice here man grass is nice out there the field is good on my fee uh I love all the lights you know the the shows and but the biggest thing is the people that's in the building you know just to just to have them you know supporting about the four quarters you know even though we were losing and they were low the whole game and I appreciate them for that what have you gotten kind of out of the preseason uh you know the NFL is hard you know it's not going to be every day you know it's going to be a great experience but you know there's times where you just got to learn learn you know take on the chin and just learn from the veterans you know just just keep learning and just keep stacking days and getting better

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