Safety Landon Collins
October 16, 2018
Q: What can you do moving forward to help the team get out of this funk?
A: Try to make more plays, honestly. Being more affirmative with my play-calling, my actions, helping the defense as much as I can, making all the tackles I can, and being in the right position to make plays.
Q: Do you think it’s hard to put the past behind you and focus on the future?
A: You learn from the past. You learn your lessons from the past. Everybody says, ‘The past is the past.’ You can only learn lessons from it. We put it behind us, and we’re moving towards the future. We got Atlanta this week, so we’ve got to work on them. What happened in the past is just the past. You can’t really take but lessons from it.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge of facing this Falcons offense?
A: (Falcons QB) Matt Ryan is at the top of his game this year. He’s been doing a great job. They got (Falcons WR) Julio (Jones) – a big, tall receiver, big-time receiver. You got (Falcons WR Mohamed) Sanu, and you got (Falcons WR) Calvin Ridley that’s doing big-time things over there. It’s a good matchup. A lot of shifting motions that we have to be tuned into, and just making sure we use our eyes correctly and making sure we use those eyes to make sure we get to the right play.
Q: Despite his great play, Julio Jones hasn’t scored a receiving touchdown this season. Do you see what other teams are doing to keep him out of the end zone?
A: No, I haven’t seen anything to keep him out. Just haven’t found a way yet. That’s all. They’re trying to get him the ball in the end zone, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Q: They might not have (RB) Devonta Freeman this week. What do they lose with him out of the lineup?
A: Honestly, they have two good running backs that are back there. Freeman is their downhill back. He’s small, but he has that grit in him that nobody can stop him. I look up to him because of that. Little backs like that, you can hit them, you can knock them down, but not him. He’s like a bowling ball. If he hits you, he’s going to hit you hard.
Q: They’ve been particularly good in third-and-long conversions. How critical is that for you to be able to stop that, and why do you suppose they’ve been so good on third-and-long?
A: Their receivers are able to catch the ball down field, that’s why they’re so good. That’s the biggest thing we have to harp on, is getting off the field on third-down. That’s what we didn’t do last week, and that’s what we’ve got to work on.
