Koo faces the music as the Dirty Birds feel the heat after the Bucs home opener loss.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris met the press the day after a much-discussed loss to division rivals Tampa Bay. That loss put the team, particularly kicker Younghoe Koo, in the hot seat, with plenty of media discussion of his role in the loss.
Here are the days’ events from Flowery Branch…
- Morris said the Falcons did not play well enough on special teams. He addressed one particular special teamer, kicker Koo, whose wide right field goal miss sealed Sunday’s loss to the Bucs. He said Koo is still the starting kicker, but a workout with rookie and veteran kickers starts tomorrow. That includes Lenny Krieg, the practice kicker who competed with Koo during the summer for the kicker slot in the 53-man roster.
- Before the presser, Koo gave his thoughts to the press about the ill-fated kick and the reverberations caused by it. (As reported by ESPN Falcons beat reporter Marc Raimondi)”Throughout the game with that turf, I was kind of hitting the ground a little bit, so I tried to make an adjustment, which I have done multiple times, and I just made the wrong kind of adjustment at that time, and I know what to do. But it’s just frustrating. I know better than that, and I just got to do a better job.”
- Koo continues: “I mean, every point really matters in this league, and we’ve been in this situation so many times, and the frustration just came out of just disappointment in myself with knowing that I know I’m better than that. And on top of that, letting the guys down. Unfortunately, we’ve been having this conversation just more than I would like to, but I think it was just those kinds of things just showing up.”
- Morris on the Falcons’ running game: “We’ve run the ball well here for a long time in a bunch of different ways. We’ll figure that out.”
- Bijan Robinson’s 50-yard TD reception: “Bijan created magic” with that play. He also had positive words about rookie safety Xavier Watts (“had a game-time confidence where I was like, ‘wow, that’s different.’”) and A.J. Terrell Jr.(“absolutely phenomenal” coverage.)
- Rookie WR Casey Washington: “He did decent,” said Morris, who said he got two ball drops, but he also made two third-down plays.
- No confirmation about reports of WR Drake London’s shoulder injury. He will not confirm anything until Wednesday.
- Morris saw no issues with missed tackles. “I thought we had some really strong tackles.”
- Former Falcon Grady Jarrett played his first regular game as a member of the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. His new team lost to the team the Falcons will face this Sunday night, the Minnesota Vikings. (The Vikings are the former team of Falcons backup QB Kirk Cousins).
Compiled from social media and press reports.
