There are few things that drive NFL head coaches crazier than undisciplined play that leads to penalties. This was evident during the Falcons’ preseason loss to the Jets on Monday night.
Atlanta racked up 13 penalties for 121 total yards, including a red-zone false start which effectively ended a promising offensive drive. Head coach Arthur Smith has preached the importance of discipline since arriving last season and he wasn’t too pleased with his team’s performance against New York.
“Obviously, I got to look at the tape, especially on some of the in-between penalties — the ones that really drive me nuts are any of the procedure stuff,” said Smith after the Falcons’ 24-16 loss to the Jets. “We got to play with good fundamentals and technique and just see. I got to look and see what happened to Ade Ogundeji on that one third down. So, stuff to coach off of, see what we can do better.”
Desmond Ridder got the Falcons offense to the Jets 1-yard line on a 13-play offensive drive, but a false start by Jalen Mayfield forced the team to kick a field goal on fourth down rather than go for it at the goal line.
“They’re critical, and a lot of lessons learned and I got high expectations for Desmond,” continued Smith. “So, we’re going to be hard on Desmond because he’s a good player and he can take that coaching and he understands that we’re not waiting on him as a rookie. We’re trying to speed him up. So he made some good throws, there’s some things he’s got to clean up, especially in the operation.”
After the false start on Mayfield, Smith was seen cutting into his offense, Ridder especially, because he understands that those moments cannot happen in the regular season. Instilling that mentality into Ridder early will help prevent mental mishaps down the and make him a better leader.
Watch the full postgame interview below on the Falcons’ official YouTube channel.
