Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say to the Atlanta media on Thursday:
On the challenge this week getting ready for Dallas: "Yeah, their defense presents a number of challenges. They're playing really well. Their front four is one of the better front fours in the league. They get after the passer really well. They get after the run. They've got two young linebackers that are very talented and play well within their scheme, and a solid backend. So we've certainly got our work cut out for us but like every week it comes down to what we do and we've got to prepare really well this week and make sure when Sunday rolls around to one o'clock we're on top of our game plan and ready to play."
On whether he can sense going into a game whether a team's energy level is higher one week than others prior to a game: "Yeah I mean sometimes you know if you've had a better week of practice than others. The funny part is the correlation is not always the same or sometimes you can have a rough week of practice and then play really, really well. The same can be true of having a really good week of practice and then not performing as well as you like and being prepared and not performing the way you want. I think we've done a good job. The one thing that you can control is your preparation and your attention to detail and I think that's been good for the most part this year. I think we have prepared well. Our results haven't been what we want but you've got to control that process portion of it and I think we've done a nice job of that."
On whether he has the sense this week they're dialed in: "I thought today was a good practice. I thought in the meetings that we had this morning and the walk-through, and then our practice this afternoon I thought our attention to detail was good and the sense of urgency was good."
On whether that is typical after a loss: "On the good teams I've been on (those) are the ones that it doesn't matter what's happened the week before. The attention to detail is there Wednesday when you get in. That's where we have to be. Win or loss. We have to come in and have that championship mindset every week, regardless of the outcome the week before."
On the Cowboys coming off a big win and whether he is concerned about the momentum Dallas may have: "No. My concern is with us playing the best that we are capable of playing. I feel like week in and week out that's good enough to get the job done. We have the right amount of talent. We've got good enough players, good enough scheme. All of those things that if we can control playing our best we are capable of winning every week. We respect them coming in though. They're playing well, they played really well last on both sides of the ball. It's going to be a tough four-quarter challenge for us."
On the games they have played their best offensively and how do they make sure they get that going this weekend: "The biggest thing is connecting when you have your chances. We had opportunities in that game and didn't connect and in order to be successful, it's hard to score on multiple drives when you're just chipping away, chipping away and then getting four or five yards a piece. You've got to create those explosive gains. So I think it just comes down to execution, it's as simple as that. When we get our chances, when we get our opportunities we have to nail them."
On his third season as a teammate of Deion Jones and how has he lived up to the hype: "He certainly has lived up to it. He's been a great player for us since day one. You hate to see guys go down and miss time but he's done a great job with his rehab. He's been around all the time, he's helping those other linebackers out during the week in terms of game planning and trying to add any advice that he can. He certainly has meant a lot to me and our team in the last couple of years. He's made a ton of plays for us that have changed the outcome of games and we're lucky to have him."
On what needs to happen to get the run game going: "We just need to stick with it. Last week we just played from behind most of the third and fourth quarter. Which makes it difficult to run the football. I thought that we had our opportunities, we did some nice things in the run game last week. So staying in front of the chains and staying ahead and the score is key to keep our run game rolling."
