Longtime Falcons, Roddy White & Matt Ryan Have Each Others Back

[Tandy]

Longtime Falcons Roddy White, Matt Ryan have each other's back

1d

• Vaughn McClure

Atlanta Falcons veteran wide receiver Roddy White doesn't care if the so-called "experts" leave Matt Ryan off the list of elite quarterbacks. All White cares about is having Ryan as his quarterback.

"I'm not a quarterback judge, but I just know we have a good one," White said. "I'm happy with our guy. I've played with not-so-good quarterbacks and saw how hard the game could be with them. I'm just happy that we have a good quarterback.

Falcons QB Matt Ryan (2) on receiver Roddy White (84): "We've been through good seasons; we've been through bad seasons. And we've been able to count on each other ..."

"As far as being a top tier quarterback or being second tier, they judge a lot of that off your winning percentage, how many touchdown passes you throw in a year, how many Super Bowl titles you've won. I mean, Drew Brees leads the league in passing yards. Tom Brady leads the league in Super Bowl titles. Peyton Manningleads the league in every statistical passing category during the regular season. Those guys have won Super Bowls. We haven't reached that plateau as a team yet. The minute Matt wins a Super Bowl, things will be totally different."

Maybe the Falcons can reach such goals in the next few years under new coach Dan Quinn. A renewed emphasis on the run game should alleviate some of the pressure on Ryan, who has been sacked or hit countless times over the past two seasons.

"This offense, basically everything is played off the run game," White explained. "When Matt first came into the league his rookie year, Michael Turner kind of ran wild in the league. Matt was just out there handling the game and everything was coming easy to him. That's what we need to get back to: where we can run the ball. We want to get our running game going to make life easier on everybody else, especially Matt."

White was asked if he was ever concerned about Ryan's health.

"When we played Pittsburgh (last year), he got hit from behind and nobody blocked the guy and yeah, I was like, 'Man.' You don't want 275-pound people hitting your quarterback running 15 miles per hour," White said. "You don't ever want to see a guy take hits like that. After you watched that on film, you're like, 'Come on, man.' You don't want to see a guy go through that at all."

That being said, White never believed Ryan would miss a game.

"No, because I know how tough he is," White said. "When you go out there and play with a guy who goes out and fights just as hard as he does and won't quit and will do anything to be on the field and has taken a beating like he has taken, you just know that he's going to play. You know he's going to be out there. You know he's going to do everything in his power to be the best player he can be. And that man works very, very hard.

"To see him on the Mondays and the Tuesdays after games just up there until 8 p.m. game-planning -- people don't see the things that he does to get ready to play on Sunday and have a better understanding of what plays we want to run and what things we can be successful at. When you see a guy work that hard and see the effort that he puts into it, you just don't concern yourself with little things. You just concern yourself with how we're going to get to where we need to be."

When told of how White praised his toughness, Ryan expressed gratitude toward his teammate of eight seasons.

"That's what you need from a team," Ryan said. "That's the kind of bond that you need across the board, and (White and I) have that because we've been together forever. I mean, we've been through it. We've been through the offseason programs together. We've been through good seasons; we've been through bad seasons. And we've been able to count on each other for that amount of time.

"The more guys we get to have those kind of connections, that's how we're going to get better. And I think that's what Dan Quinn preaches, so we're trying to do that."

Ryan spoke up when asked if White, who turns 34 in November, has much more left in the tank.

"He's got a lot left," Ryan said. "If there's one thing that I know more so than anything else, Roddy White's probably one of the most ferocious competitors that I've been around. He loves playing. When you have guys like that, you can't discount them any time. He just shows up, knows how to compete, isn't scared to make plays, and isn't scared to go in there and mix it up. ... He's the best."

[raysnill1]

I really REALLY wish this is the year that the coordinator let's Ryan have total control. I went and watched some Browns games just to get a feel of how the offense is gonna run and I came away a little impressed, and that was an offense who's QB had a 76.5 QBR and threw more INTs than TDs. I wanna see more of the Matt that showed up in the Pro Bowl and took control in that last drive. even Michael Irvin took notice that Matt is truly special

[FenixFalcon]

Matt is the type of QB receivers want to play with, and you can tell that everyone on the team respects him and trusts him 100%. Roddy is slowing down too, but he's realizing he doesn't have much time left and I feel over the next 2 seasons he's going to sacrifice everything he's got left in him to get Matt and the Falcons a trophy. True Falcon Blood right there.

Edited August 5, 2015 by FenixFalcon

[Lee Harvey Oswald]

...With nothing to show for it.

[FenixFalcon]

...With nothing to show for it.

Cause the only reason to play football is to win a Lombardi right?

[papachaz]

I like Matt calling Roddy ' most ferocious competitor'..........I think that's very well thought out and a very accurate description

[Dukeduke211]

I WONDER WHO THE BAD QB'S RODDY IS SPEAKING OF? HARRINGTON? VICK? LOL

[Mega Flare]

Is Roddy going to block for him? Otherwise, the real question is, does the O Line have Matt's back?

[Borat]

Roddy White = Greatest Falcon of All Time

[Tandy]

Is Roddy going to block for him? Otherwise, the real question is, does the O Line have Matt's back?

Roddy is one of the better blocking WR's in the league. Truth!

[TheFatboi]

I WONDER WHO THE BAD QB'S RODDY IS SPEAKING OF? HARRINGTON? VICK? LOL

He's talking about his whole life. High school, college, and Pro. The bad ones as a pro is probably Harrington and leftwich.

[MoFalconsFan56]

Roddy is one of the better blocking WR's in the league. Truth!

Get em!

[kevykev21]

Longtime Falcons Roddy White, Matt Ryan have each other's back

1d

• Vaughn McClure

Atlanta Falcons veteran wide receiver Roddy White doesn't care if the so-called "experts" leave Matt Ryan off the list of elite quarterbacks. All White cares about is having Ryan as his quarterback.

"I'm not a quarterback judge, but I just know we have a good one," White said. "I'm happy with our guy. I've played with not-so-good quarterbacks and saw how hard the game could be with them. I'm just happy that we have a good quarterback.

Falcons QB Matt Ryan (2) on receiver Roddy White (84): "We've been through good seasons; we've been through bad seasons. And we've been able to count on each other ..."

"As far as being a top tier quarterback or being second tier, they judge a lot of that off your winning percentage, how many touchdown passes you throw in a year, how many Super Bowl titles you've won. I mean, Drew Brees leads the league in passing yards. Tom Brady leads the league in Super Bowl titles. Peyton Manningleads the league in every statistical passing category during the regular season. Those guys have won Super Bowls. We haven't reached that plateau as a team yet. The minute Matt wins a Super Bowl, things will be totally different."

Maybe the Falcons can reach such goals in the next few years under new coach Dan Quinn. A renewed emphasis on the run game should alleviate some of the pressure on Ryan, who has been sacked or hit countless times over the past two seasons.

"This offense, basically everything is played off the run game," White explained. "When Matt first came into the league his rookie year, Michael Turner kind of ran wild in the league. Matt was just out there handling the game and everything was coming easy to him. That's what we need to get back to: where we can run the ball. We want to get our running game going to make life easier on everybody else, especially Matt."

White was asked if he was ever concerned about Ryan's health.

"When we played Pittsburgh (last year), he got hit from behind and nobody blocked the guy and yeah, I was like, 'Man.' You don't want 275-pound people hitting your quarterback running 15 miles per hour," White said. "You don't ever want to see a guy take hits like that. After you watched that on film, you're like, 'Come on, man.' You don't want to see a guy go through that at all."

That being said, White never believed Ryan would miss a game.

"No, because I know how tough he is," White said. "When you go out there and play with a guy who goes out and fights just as hard as he does and won't quit and will do anything to be on the field and has taken a beating like he has taken, you just know that he's going to play. You know he's going to be out there. You know he's going to do everything in his power to be the best player he can be. And that man works very, very hard.

"To see him on the Mondays and the Tuesdays after games just up there until 8 p.m. game-planning -- people don't see the things that he does to get ready to play on Sunday and have a better understanding of what plays we want to run and what things we can be successful at. When you see a guy work that hard and see the effort that he puts into it, you just don't concern yourself with little things. You just concern yourself with how we're going to get to where we need to be."

When told of how White praised his toughness, Ryan expressed gratitude toward his teammate of eight seasons.

"That's what you need from a team," Ryan said. "That's the kind of bond that you need across the board, and (White and I) have that because we've been together forever. I mean, we've been through it. We've been through the offseason programs together. We've been through good seasons; we've been through bad seasons. And we've been able to count on each other for that amount of time.

"The more guys we get to have those kind of connections, that's how we're going to get better. And I think that's what Dan Quinn preaches, so we're trying to do that."

Ryan spoke up when asked if White, who turns 34 in November, has much more left in the tank.

"He's got a lot left," Ryan said. "If there's one thing that I know more so than anything else, Roddy White's probably one of the most ferocious competitors that I've been around. He loves playing. When you have guys like that, you can't discount them any time. He just shows up, knows how to compete, isn't scared to make plays, and isn't scared to go in there and mix it up. ... He's the best."

[Mega Flare]

Roddy is one of the better blocking WR's in the league. Truth!

Great, can he play LT?

[Tandy]

Great, can he play LT?

Probably better than Toilolo can play RT!

Look, I've complained about our line for years now. It's the area we've neglected the most and it finally caught up with us the last couple of years.

I want to see them build a strong line on both sides, because that's the true key to going far in the playoffs. We've been strong in skill players, have had good blocking receivers and running backs (until the last year or two anyway) and have had a QB who gets rid of the ball quickly. That has covered up the weakness of our line during the season, especially against weaker defenses, but during the playoffs, when facing some of the best defenses in the league - especially along the line - it has come back to bite us. The last couple of years, that factor along with major injuries in key places has killed us even during the regular season.

It's been the same thing for our defensive line. Especially Smith's first few years, they held up well enough with a fast secondary and a clock eating offense, to play crazy good in games against weaker linemen and fit that "bend but don't break" mentality that our Coach had. However, in the playoffs or even in the season against good lines and really good skill players, that line fell apart and the defense went with it.

A lot of people think it's cliche' to say that games are won at the line of scrimmage, but I'm a strong believer in that statement.

All that said, that has nothing to do with the fact that a strong bond between our QB and his receivers, running backs and linemen isn't important. The connection between Ryan and Roddy has saved our butts time and again - and may prove to be the thing that does get us over the hump in the end game - provided we get there.

We should celebrate it, whole-heartedly. Disconnects between the QB and his skill players is a team killer - and eventually brings them down, as much as poor coaching and poor lines will.

[Door Gunner]

Good read. Thanks for posting.

[Mega Flare]

Probably better than Toilolo can play RT!

Look, I've complained about our line for years now. It's the area we've neglected the most and it finally caught up with us the last couple of years.

I want to see them build a strong line on both sides, because that's the true key to going far in the playoffs. We've been strong in skill players, have had good blocking receivers and running backs (until the last year or two anyway) and have had a QB who gets rid of the ball quickly. That has covered up the weakness of our line during the season, especially against weaker defenses, but during the playoffs, when facing some of the best defenses in the league - especially along the line - it has come back to bite us. The last couple of years, that factor along with major injuries in key places has killed us even during the regular season.

It's been the same thing for our defensive line. Especially Smith's first few years, they held up well enough with a fast secondary and a clock eating offense, to play crazy good in games against weaker linemen and fit that "bend but don't break" mentality that our Coach had. However, in the playoffs or even in the season against good lines and really good skill players, that line fell apart and the defense went with it.

A lot of people think it's cliche' to say that games are won at the line of scrimmage, but I'm a strong believer in that statement.

All that said, that has nothing to do with the fact that a strong bond between our QB and his receivers, running backs and linemen isn't important. The connection between Ryan and Roddy has saved our butts time and again - and may prove to be the thing that does get us over the hump in the end game - provided we get there.

We should celebrate it, whole-heartedly. Disconnects between the QB and his skill players is a team killer - and eventually brings them down, as much as poor coaching and poor lines will.

Time will tell.

[Dunn-Vick-Duckett]

Obviously as a Falcons fan I want us to win the Super Bowl every year, but I REALLY want it to be sooner rather than later, so this man gets a ring (or 2) wearing the red and black. Roddy means a lot to this franchise, and if Blank and co ever let him leave this team before he retires my respect for them will disappear.

Matt IS the guy to get us there, and you can tell Roddy believes that.