Falcons head coach Mike Smith on making the necessary corrections on defense: "We've got to get it corrected right now and we will get it corrected right now. We are not getting off blocks, we are missing tackles, we are not filling correctly and we aren't gelling as a unit. Everybody has a job to do and a gap to take when you are defending the run and right now, we are not defending the run, nor are we defending the pass very well."
Falcons QB Matt Ryan on the team trying to overcome injuries on Sunday: "I think during the game you try and do the best you can. I have never, in my six plus seasons of playing, been in this situation, where tight ends are in there trying to play offensive tackle. It's part of the deal with a 46-man roster, you only have so many guys suited up. I thought our guys battled. I thought Bear Pascoe and Levine Toilolo did a great job of coming in and trying to do the best they could. Moving forward, we'll see. Hopefully the injuries aren't too bad, but you never know. We'll have to adjust; we'll have to move forward and find a way to get it done."
Falcons T Jake Matthews on seeing his fellow O-linemen injured: "Those guys love the game of football and they played really hard. We will see what they have in store. No matter what we are going through as an offensive line, and as a team, we are going to be helping each other out."
Falcons TE Levine Toilolo on playing right tackle: "Just to get in that situation, it's tough to see our guys go down; that was my first reaction. But next, I just had to move down and be ready to execute. Coach Smith always talks about 'next man up' — I mean, obviously, it's not something that I practice, but all the guys up front did a great job communicating with me as far as assignment-wise. I just tried to keep rolling."
Falcons LB Paul Worrilow on the defensive struggles not being one player's fault: "It is a shared effort up there. We need to help out by getting (our guys up front) off of double teams. Inside backers and the front seven, we take blame for that as a group, not one particular person."
Falcons DE Tyson Jackson on anticipating Minnesota running the ball as much as it did: "I figured they'd want to do it a little bit with a new quarterback coming in, but they were able just to do too much. Two and three yards is okay, but when you start to get to five and six yards on one carry, it just put us behind the sticks; from there, it was just an uphill battle on third down."
Falcons DT Corey Peters on playing better on the road: "We've had two road games and really, on defense, we've played very poor, so I don't know what the issue is exactly, but whatever it is, we've got to find a way to get it fixed."
