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Mike Conti joins The Midday Show to share his thoughts on the Falcons after their Week 1 loss.
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00:00Continue to wrap up week one of the NFL season, and like Randy said, immediately turn the page to week
00:06two.
00:06Yeah, man.
00:07Because there's another game on Thursday.
00:09Yeah.
00:10Pretty fun one.
00:11Detroit at Buffalo.
00:12We'll be right here on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.
00:14Oh, home opener for the new stadium with all the views that are skewered a little bit.
00:20Yeah, all the obstructed views in the billion-dollar stadium.
00:25Yeah, yeah.
00:25I'm sure they'll figure it out.
00:26Yeah, that should be a lot of fun.
00:27Just real quick, because this is what we're doing today.
00:32Steve Weish, NFL Network, checked with the team about the email about media availability.
00:39Again, this is what we're doing this week.
00:40I checked on this.
00:41This is from Steve Weish, NFL Network Insider.
00:44I checked on this with the team and was told it was listed Rush based on no new information.
00:50However, Coach Kevin Stefanski will announce who the quarterback is whenever he decides to make his decision public.
00:55So, per this release, Rush, for lack of a better term, is a placeholder for now.
01:00How about that?
01:01Come on.
01:02How about that?
01:02Sounds like a couple guys might have said that at about 11.05 this morning.
01:06How about that?
01:06But thank you to Steve Weish for doing the actual reporting there and letting us know that a public relations
01:12email on a Tuesday is not the same thing as a depth chart on a Sunday.
01:17Anyway, Mike Conte joins us on Thursdays to talk all things, everything.
01:22And let me add to that.
01:23I mean, they're going to put a depth chart out today.
01:25It's probably going to say Cooper Rush as the starter because that's what they do.
01:29They take last week's starting lineup, and unless there is an obvious reason to change it, that's what it's going
01:34to be.
01:35I need an or in there.
01:36You're going to see.
01:37Let's just go all in, man.
01:38But what if it's or Jack Strand?
01:40Let's go all in.
01:40Because then you're going to have to do more Jack Strand stuff.
01:42Nope.
01:42I don't have to do that.
01:43And by the way, it might be an or.
01:45It might be.
01:46It might be a tour.
01:47But they're not going to announce this in a press release.
01:51No, they're not.
01:52And they're also not going to accidentally tell us on Tuesday.
01:55Like, oh, no, the Falcons accidentally telegraphed to the corner.
01:59And that's not to say that it might be Cooper Rush on Sunday.
02:02I think it's really unfortunate because it immediately led to rhetoric about Penix again and his inability to get ready
02:10to play.
02:10Look, I understand everyone's frustrated right now.
02:14I'm sure Penix is probably frustrated more than anyone else.
02:17Let's give the guy a little bit of a chance here.
02:20You know, let's not, oh, you know, there's a Cooper Rush press conference on Wednesday.
02:24Therefore, Penix can't get himself ready again.
02:27Look, I've never seen anything like it.
02:29You know, no, let's give the guy a chance.
02:31Let's all take a deep breath.
02:32No one is happy about the situation that exists right now.
02:36But let's all take a deep breath and let this play out.
02:40And, you know, maybe Penix will play this weekend.
02:43Maybe Tua will play this weekend.
02:45Who knows?
02:46But, yeah, it's just, unfortunately, when you have an information vacuum, and, frankly, Kevin Stefanski created this leadership vacuum by
02:54not answering the questions yesterday.
02:55I thought Zinno asked a good question.
02:58You know, there was another question.
03:00And Stefanski basically not answered it.
03:02So you have an information vacuum, and that's what happens.
03:06What if he doesn't have an answer, though?
03:07Yeah, I think he doesn't know.
03:09But, okay, that's still not the, that's not an answer for who will be the starting quarterback this weekend.
03:15Right, right.
03:16He probably doesn't know.
03:17I mean, I don't think he's going up there and lying.
03:19I think he doesn't know.
03:20But that's not really an answer.
03:22It creates a vacuum of information.
03:25This is what you get.
03:26But, whatever, let's just play football, you know, right?
03:28Well, they did.
03:29They did.
03:31Is there, what sort of analysis can you give from Sunday outside of, obviously, the third-string quarterback didn't help?
03:38Yeah.
03:38Well, okay, a couple things.
03:40First of all, encouraged, if this is allowed to be encouraged, thought the defense played pretty well.
03:47Defense was getting heat on Rodgers with four.
03:50Good to see, especially when you're without, you know, Walker and Pierce and all that.
03:56So, good to see.
03:58Thought you got a little bit of a break because D.K. Metcalf forgot to catch the football, forgot how
04:04to catch the football.
04:05So, that might have helped you a little.
04:06But I think, for the most part, defense played pretty well.
04:09I thought special teams, outside of the obvious, the two missed field goals by Falk, special teams looked good.
04:16I mean, you were covering kicks well.
04:17You got some good run backs.
04:18No problem.
04:19Bijan, obviously, you know, very, very good.
04:22But they did a good job of trying to get him the ball as much as possible.
04:26The thing about Rush is, yeah, I mean, look, it is what it is.
04:32He likely found out on Thursday that he was going to be the starter for this game.
04:38So, he got one decent day of first-team reps.
04:42Then his back tightens up on him.
04:43We don't even know how healthy his back was on Sunday.
04:46And, frankly, I don't think he got a lot of help on Sunday.
04:50So, yeah, I mean, he didn't play great, but he didn't get help.
04:53You know, Pittsburgh was getting plenty of push with a four-man rush.
04:59And, you know, I thought Mike Johnson called it out exactly correctly on the morning shift yesterday.
05:05Bergeron and Lindstrom, who were two of the highest-paid guards in the league, were not very good.
05:10So, whether it was Rush or Penix or Tua or Matt Ryan or Tom Brady or whatever, you're going to
05:16be kind of boxed in when your opposing defense is going to get to you with a four-man rush.
05:24And that limits your playbook.
05:26You know, why didn't they throw out a Drake London more?
05:28Because they didn't have enough time to get it to him.
05:30That's not a rush issue necessarily.
05:33So, I think obvious things to clean up.
05:36I think some obvious things to be pleased about, you're going to have a much different type of challenge this
05:42weekend.
05:43Because Carolina's defense is not nearly as stout, I think you would say, as Pittsburgh.
05:51But Carolina will be able to move the ball more effectively than Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
05:57So, a different kind of matchup.
05:59I don't know if that necessarily plays into a strength of the Falcons or not, but we'll see.
06:02Yeah, because you look at Carolina, they got, if you're going to be down Chris Lindstrom, and Derrick Brown pretty
06:07much handles Chris Lindstrom anyways.
06:08Right.
06:09You tell me you're going to put the third guard over there, it's going to be.
06:11It's going to be tough.
06:12Yeah, it's going to be pretty tough.
06:13When you look at just the, I don't even know where to go.
06:18This week, Mike, getting ready for Carolina.
06:20Is it vital that, because I think that, and it's not hard to say it, Jack Strand has to figure
06:26out.
06:26By the way, because he's still, as much as they said, development and all of it, he was one hit
06:30away from going in the game.
06:31That's right.
06:31So, do they go out and sign a veteran quarterback?
06:34Because he does not.
06:34To me, if you're going to put a third-string guy in there with a bad back, that just lets
06:38me know that you're not ready for this kid to play.
06:40And you just didn't have time to go get a guy.
06:42Yeah.
06:43Which, by the way, is perfectly understandable.
06:48I think, if I were them, and I'm not, I'd be looking for a quarterback that you might be able
06:55to get on your practice squad.
06:57That's what I would try to do.
07:01I don't want to take a valuable roster spot to sign a quarterback who might only be with you for
07:07a couple days.
07:08I'd try to get someone through to the practice squad, and then you evaluate at the end of the week.
07:12Because, look, we don't know how seriously Tua is hurt.
07:15We don't know a whole lot of detail about this oblique injury.
07:18And I think part of the confusion about Tua was that it was initially reported as, oh, his back flared
07:24up again.
07:24And that might lead you to believe, well, he can be back in a couple days.
07:27Well, now, no.
07:28We have found out it's an oblique injury.
07:30But I don't think there's been a whole lot of detail on how severe it is.
07:34So, that goes into the equation, too.
07:36I think everyone's kind of making, not you guys, but I think there's this thought out there that, well, it's
07:43all or nothing.
07:43Either Penix is going to play or it's going to be Rush.
07:46And I think Tua is the guy that we're forgetting about in this equation.
07:50Because if the oblique injury is not serious, and it can potentially be available for this week,
07:55and then you don't have to worry about the situation you just posed, Randy.
07:58Yes, you absolutely have to get Strand ready in the event that something happens to Cooper Rush.
08:05If his back even tightens up again.
08:07So, I'm sure there will be increased reps for him this week.
08:09But I would not like the idea of having to cut a guy off your active roster to bring in
08:16a quarterback that you might not even need.
08:18I'd be looking for someone you can get through on your practice squad.
08:22Pickens will be kind of slim in that regard because I think you can only be in the league three
08:27years or less to be practice squad eligible or something like that.
08:30I don't know if I have that exactly right, but Pickens will be rather slim.
08:33Like, you're not going to go out and get a Taylor Heineke type guy on your practice squad.
08:37It's going to be, you know, much, much.
08:40Well, and teams have kept more guys.
08:41I mean, going back to the, you know, the cutdown day and the Falcons kept four quarterbacks.
08:46I think we clearly understand why they did that now.
08:50But a few teams did.
08:52And every team's keeping three.
08:53So, there's just not as many guys out there.
08:55I mean, obviously, Stefanski had worked with a lot of different guys in Cleveland the last handful of years.
09:00And some of them are available if you're going to go out and try to find someone that can come
09:04in and be your emergency third or whatever.
09:06Maybe even your backup, potentially, on a week-by-week basis, given the situation right now.
09:12Maybe pick up the phone and call Drew Brees.
09:14Hey, as we heard last night.
09:15We were talking about that during the break.
09:16I can't believe that.
09:18That was some weirdness.
09:18I'm not calling anything on an Adam Schefter report.
09:21He knows what he's doing.
09:22But I really, really struggle with the idea that without the head coach's knowledge, people on your football staff are
09:31going to reach out to a guy who's been retired for almost 10 years to see if he wants to
09:35start in a conference championship game.
09:37And that the guy told him no because his wrist hurt.
09:40Yeah.
09:40It's pretty funny.
09:41It's pretty funny.
09:42I just, I'm sorry.
09:43I am really struggling with the veracity of that.
09:46Uh, I'm not saying it was made up or a lie or anything like that.
09:50I'm not saying that.
09:51I just find that incredibly hard to wrap my head around that, that, that thought would even come into play
10:01and that they would reach out to him without the knowledge of the head coach.
10:06The head coach, the head coach, by the way, coached him for a decade and won a Super Bowl with
10:09him?
10:10If that's true, um, I would, I'd pay money to see that conversation.
10:14Oh, Sean Payton?
10:15Sean Payton.
10:15Oh, yeah.
10:16Well, the other part of it is, Peyton could be trying the plausible deniability route.
10:21It might've been his goofy idea all along and he's trying to distance himself from it.
10:26So it could be that too.
10:26That could be too.
10:27I mean, it happened right after the game when, when he announced the whole Bo Nix thing.
10:31Hey, Drew, how's your, you call him on the way home after the game?
10:34Hey, man.
10:34Hey, how you doing?
10:35How you doing?
10:36Uh, just checking in, see how, how the wife and the kids are doing.
10:39Right.
10:39Uh, you got any plans this weekend?
10:41Doing any throwing?
10:43I saw the video of you because he does play catch with the boys.
10:46I'm sure he does.
10:46He does play catch with the boys.
10:48You're spinning it.
10:48Yeah.
10:48Uh, got any plans this weekend?
10:51Well, it was kind of funny last week.
10:53Funny being, I don't know, one word for it.
10:55Probably not funny.
10:56But when, uh, when we didn't know who the Falcons emergency quarterback was going to be, people
11:01are doing like, uh, well, yeah, right.
11:04That one.
11:04But then there was pictures of like Philip Rivers in a Falcons uniform.
11:07It's like all the old guys that have been called in the last couple of years.
11:10Right.
11:10Uh, Joe Patrick did confirm on, um, on the tailgate show on Sunday, Matt Ryan ineligible
11:15because a team employee cannot be, uh, cannot be promoted to a roster position.
11:21I guess the Eagles tried to do that a couple of years ago with Kevin Cobb when he was a
11:25scout or something like that.
11:26Well, couldn't they?
11:27So Matt Ryan couldn't do it.
11:27Couldn't they fire him?
11:29Matt Ryan?
11:29They would have to fire him.
11:33It's gotten so bad that I've even seen people tweet that at me, by the way.
11:36This fireable offense.
11:38What's going on with Matt Ryan so far?
11:39It's like, I don't know, man.
11:40What?
11:41It's one week and some guys got hurt.
11:42But anyway.
11:43Well, and how do you put it on Matt Ryan?
11:46Because, man, that's what's happening right now.
11:49Everything's so bad.
11:51Everyone's, everyone's in the crosshairs.
11:54Maybe I'm just looking at this the wrong way.
11:57I mean, were we going into this season thinking this was a Super Bowl or bus season for the
12:02Atlanta Falcons?
12:03Say it one more time for the people.
12:03And that a road game and an AFC team was going to make or break your season?
12:08Say it one time for the people.
12:09Look, I get, and it is absolutely fair.
12:13A lot of people listening to us right now are fed up because this team has not been to
12:17the playoffs in a long time.
12:19And they should be.
12:19And they've been going in a backwards round.
12:20And they should be.
12:21Exactly.
12:22You are absolutely right to feel that way.
12:24But you have to understand that they have made a ton of changes to try to get this thing
12:29back to where we all want to see it.
12:31And that you've had some setbacks that are not the fault of the people making the decisions
12:37right now that have maybe slowed this down slightly.
12:41But we have to be a little bit realistic about what this season is and what you hope it will
12:46lead to down the road.
12:48And this could still be a very good season for the Atlanta Falcons.
12:52Nothing in this division looks impossible for me right now where I sit.
12:58So let's just, I know this is easier said than done, but I think we all just collectively,
13:04our listeners, some people on the air here, you know, just the city of Atlanta, let's all
13:12take a deep breath.
13:13Let's let this play out.
13:15You know, you go out and you shellack Carolina this weekend and you feel a lot better about
13:20everything.
13:21And then you got to go to Green Bay on a short week.
13:23Yeah.
13:24So this is going to be a rollercoaster.
13:25They gave up 22 points in the fourth quarter.
13:27To, uh, what's his name?
13:29Carson Wentz.
13:30Yeah.
13:30Carson Wentz.
13:30So yeah, I mean, that's not impossible either.
13:33So we'll see.
13:34But I think again, I told you guys this last week, you want to win all 17 games, obviously.
13:42But if there's two games on your schedule every year that have the least to do with like tiebreakers
13:51and things like that, it is your road games at your opposing conference, your inner conference
13:58road games.
14:00Those hurt you the least in tiebreaks.
14:03It's not a divisional game.
14:04It's not a conference game.
14:05It's also a road game where, you know, there's a little less pressure to win a road game than
14:10a home game when it all is said and done.
14:11So, uh, it is not the end of the world to lose a road game at an AFC team.
14:16The exact opposite of that is the game this week.
14:19Absolutely.
14:19Right?
14:19Yes.
14:20Home games against, uh, division opponents.
14:22Yes.
14:22That means a ton more.
14:24Yes.
14:24Thank you, Mike.
14:25Thank you, Mike.
14:26Football covers on 92.9 The Game.
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14:35All right.
14:36We'll come back.
14:36We'll get to an NFL no huddle.
14:37Uh, react a little bit more beyond just Patrick Mahomes availability and willingness to be
14:43available from last night.
14:44That was a pretty incredible performance from Kenneth Walker.
14:47Um, and a number of.
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