QB Ridder ‘the same guy’ after losing starting job

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Desmond Ridder stood in front of a small group of microphones Thursday afternoon and insisted he has remained the same. Yes, he is no longer the Atlanta Falcons‘ starting quarterback — at least temporarily — but he wasn’t going to let it affect him much.

He was still going to prepare the same way. Still going to help lead separate offensive meetings he called, just like he did before Taylor Heinicke was named the Falcons’ starter Wednesday. The only difference was he’d be helping to prepare Heinicke to take snaps against the Minnesota Vikings instead of knowing he’d be doing so himself.

“Nothing’s changed. I’m still gonna be the best version of myself, the best teammate I can be,” Ridder said. “Never want to be a negative person, never want to be a negative guy. So I’m going to go and do whatever it takes to help our team win.

“Just put our team in the best position to go win.”

Ridder, who had started the past 12 games for the Falcons since taking over for Marcus Mariota in Week 15 last year, said he “didn’t press too hard” in terms of asking questions about why the team was going with Heinicke this week, and said he would be ready if the Falcons needed him or asked him to play.

Atlanta switched from Ridder to Heinicke at halftime of Sunday’s 28-23 loss to the Tennessee Titans after Ridder had been tested for and cleared from having a concussion. He said he had another concussion evaluation Monday and passed that as well.

On Wednesday, he was listed on the injury report as full practice with a “gameday concussion protocol evaluation” tag. By Thursday, he was off the injury report entirely.

“I feel good,” Ridder said. Asked whether he has felt good throughout, including Sunday, he reiterated, “I feel good.”

Ridder, who has completed 65.4% of his passes for 1,701 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions this season, didn’t indicate whether he was told it was a one-week switch or potentially something more permanent.

Coach Arthur Smith said Wednesday that the franchise was focused solely on Minnesota and that there hadn’t been any decisions made beyond this week in terms of Heinicke or Ridder. Asked why he made the decision, Smith continually said it came down to “a lot of variables.”

Atlanta’s offensive coordinator, Dave Ragone, also said it came down to multiple factors.

“A lot of variables go into it,” Ragone said. “A lot of different things that we discussed internally that are kept within the building and for this week, it’s for us, Taylor giving us, going out there on this-term basis and trying to go out and win a football game.”

It reached this point, in some ways, because of turnovers. Ridder mentioned ball security multiple times during his eight minutes talking with the media; he had seven turnovers in the past three weeks, including three interceptions and four lost fumbles.

Ridder said he believes he put “a lot of good stuff on film,” but understands turnovers were a major issue. On Sunday, Smith said Ridder is “throwing the ball pretty well. Obviously we got a lot of confidence, that’s why he’s our starter.”

By Tuesday night, Ridder was not Atlanta’s starter anymore. Ridder said he did wonder when it all started to unravel but that he was trying not to focus on that.

“Yeah, I mean, you can question a lot of things,” Ridder said. “But you know, like I said, at the end of the day, you know, you can’t go back and fix anything that you’ve done in the past. I mean, all you can do is look forward to the future and how you can get better in the present every single day.”

While he’s not starting — however long it is — Ridder said he’s going to focus on improving ball security, protecting the ball and continuing to improve understanding the game plans.

“Knowing them better than Coach Rags or anyone else knows them and so, those will never stop,” Ridder said. “At the end of the day, like I said, it’s just about not only myself but trying to push everyone else around me to be better.

“That’s still why we’re doing the meetings, that’s why we’re leading. That’s still why we’re being the same guy who I was, you know, seven days ago.”