FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Since the last time we spoke Tuesday, a lot has transpired and we have a lot more information than before.
Raheem Morris, Zac Robinson and Kirk Cousins have all addressed the offensive issues, explaining why the proverbial wheels fell off the unit's operation. They also explained what they are doing to fix it.
Still, questions about Cousins and the offense continued to carry Friday's Mailbox submissions, so let's get right into it.
Bill W. from Killan, Alabama
There's a lot of questions about Kirk's health. You say he's been cleared medically. I've seen nothing written about his mental health. How is it? Should he have played in preseason to shake off the rust and to be mentally prepared to play?
Tori: I actually did talk a little bit about his mental health and capacity to trust a surgically repaired ligament in Tuesday's Mailbox. You can read that here. However, I did say that we have to wait and see what Kirk Cousins himself had to say about where his own head is at. In essence, Cousins said any hesitation someone may have seen in his game last Sunday had nothing to do with his Achilles injury, but everything to do with getting back in the flow of a game. Here is what he said Thursday afternoon during his weekly press conference.
"I feel good. I don't know what (people were) seeing, but whatever it was wasn't my Achilles. It could have been just trying to get the laces or whatever it may be. But, no, the Achilles feels good, and I feel like I can move and push as I normally would."
Asked specifically about the mental battle of returning from an injury, Cousins said this:
"It takes time, but I feel like we kind of crossed that threshold a while back, and I think what you have to get back into is that the red jersey is off. It's live football. Not from an Achilles standpoint, but just from a playing quarterback standpoint that, having not played since Week 8 last year, you've just got to get back into that mode, which at practice you try to simulate the best you can, but it's always hard to create that."
So, there you go.
Chris S. from Marietta, Georgia
How can I believe that this offense we just ran will move the ball past the 50-yard line against the Eagles?
Tori: I guess, believe it when you see it?
Look, I know the Falcons' Week 1 offensive showing did not live up to expectations, it did not build confidence and it was not what anyone thought this unit would look like. Cousins said in the lead up to the game that he felt like the offense would be explosive, that they would execute and play with an edge. We didn't see that Sunday. Prior to the loss, Morris told the team to play "clean and crisp" football. As an offense, they didn't. So, its up to them to rectify it.
Because of all of this, you reserve the right to not believe anything until you see it actually happen.
To leave you with a little something to chew on, though, I am curious to see how Philadelphia's defense shows up this Monday night.
Though Green Bay lost the game, the Packers offense still racked up 414 yards of total offense against this Eagles unit, averaging 7.1 yards per play. The problem the Packers faced was not in moving the ball against the Eagles, but punching it in. They were 3-of-11 on third down and 1-of-4 in the red zone. The Eagles defense played a similar game to that of the Falcons defense in Week 1: bend but don't break. If the Falcons' offense rolls the way it should, perhaps they can enact a little more breakage.
However, they'll probably be on a silent count again. The Eagles fanbase is going to be loud and in charge. They're going to help their defense. It's up to the Falcons offense to silence them if they can.
Alex C. from Detroit, Michigan
Tori, I saw your tweet about the Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons effect and how it may have been why Justin Fields never tried to throw the ball down the middle of the field. I thought that was interesting. Is this kind of what we can expect now that JB3 and JS31 are playing safety for us?
Tori: I highly doubt this is going to be a trend where we see every opposing quarterback decide not to use the middle of the field. However, if you listen to Arthur Smith's press conference this week, you'll know for a fact that he took account of those two being in the secondary and altered the plan to keep the ball away from them, particularly Bates.
"The plan -- maybe it's because I coached Jessie and I got so much respect for Jessie Bates -- but that guy is a game wrecker and (we were) just trying to neutralize him," Smith said via ESPN's Brooke Pryor, "which I thought we did and that's what it came down to."
Smith went on to say the Steelers' "Jason Bourne" of T.J. Watt wrecked the game. The Falcons' "Jason Bourne" of Bates never had the chance to because the goal was to keep the ball away from him. That goal was achieved, per Smith.
Now, this is Smith. I can't say we will see this trend continue, but you do know opposing offensive coordinators have to respect the presence of Bates and Simmons together. Does that mean we won't ever see a pass down the middle of the field? No. Does it mean we may see less than we have before? Perhaps.
Time will tell on this one, and honestly, it's something to track through the first couple months of the season to really get a true answer.
CALL FOR QUESTIONS
If you have a question you want answered, you can submit said question(s) here to be included in the Falcons Mailbox, which will run every Tuesday and Friday.
