The Atlanta Falcons are once again going through a quarterback change, placing the young Desmond Ridder on the bench in favor of veteran Taylor Heinicke in Week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Falcons are not officially eliminated from playoff contention, but with a 6-8 record, their odds are certainly bleak in the final stretch of the season. Offensive coordinator Dave Ragone discussed this week what he could have potentially done differently in Ridder's development, an experiment that has seemed to fail in Atlanta from the outset.
“You always want to take personal accountability in this business," Ragone said. "You want to have, and I’m sure Coach [Arthur] Smith has talked about it as well, the shared accountability. When you’re coaching any position and you’re involved in anything, regardless of if you’re a titled position coach or not, you’re always going through it. Even when players are playing at their highest level, you’re still reevaluating, ‘Hey, what am I doing here that’s either helping the player or maybe not?’"
Just how Ragone takes accountability for this perceived failure isn't fully clear, but he does count himself blessed to be able to assist quarterbacks in their development in the NFL, and he believes the quarterback room in Atlanta is in a good place mentally at this point of the season, even with the sea of change that has come throughout the year.
"It’s a different process for everybody," Ragone said. "You bring a different coach up here and he’ll talk about his process completely differently. I think you have to find one that works for you. If everything was great comfort, I don’t know if you reach your true potential. I know when I was a player, sometimes in my worst games, I learned the most about myself.
"So, it’s an awesome opportunity, individually, to help Des, to help any quarterback, to help any player in my position to grow. And you saw it yesterday in practice, a great attitude from the quarterback room. No different than what you’ll see from me going out into practice here in about 20 minutes.”
The Falcons will try to keep their playoff hopes alive with Heinicke at quarterback on Sunday when they play host to the Colts. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on FOX.
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