The Atlanta Falcons haven’t officially declared a starting quarterback, but it was reported on Sunday that the team plans to start Desmond Ridder for the final seven games of the season.
Ridder started the first eight games before the Falcons benched him for veteran Taylor Heinicke in the second half against the Titans. Heinicke started the next two games but was injured late in last Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals.
Atlanta is 4-6 at the bye week, but the team is still very much alive in the NFC South. Here’s how Falcons fans on Twitter reacted to the latest QB change.
NFL Network reports Ridder will start
Sources: The #Falcons will start QB Desmond Ridder going forward, beginning with their next game against the #Saints, handing the ball back to their original starter.
My story on the move coming out of the bye: https://t.co/18WLbkBfdMhttps://t.co/18WLbkBfdM
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 19, 2023
The right choice. Hopefully Ridder can get on a heater and show us something here. Falcons need to claw their way out of this funk some way. https://t.co/6cz6N74Myr
— 🎅🏽 Jolly Da❌ski 🎄 (@Damski32) November 19, 2023
From what I'm told, the Falcons believed the bulk of Ridder's mistakes were correctable & felt he had a lot of learning to do. A move back to him was always planned unless Taylor Heinicke went on a ridiculous run. It wasn't like they fell out of love with Ridder. Needed a reset. https://t.co/jNF4EZVsWs
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) November 19, 2023
“Hey Ridder, we believe in you. You just need a little timeout to get your mind right” Please can this coach https://t.co/RyGojCNh6J
— Devontae (@DevontaeD28) November 19, 2023
"We're not playing musical chairs at the qb position" – Arthur Smith, the week he started playing musical chairs at the qb position https://t.co/fZ6HBGIKdk
— Carlton (@CrispyCarlton) November 19, 2023
Threw the division lead away for this. https://t.co/7NIvOd1h47
— King's Landing (@___theKing___) November 19, 2023
Reset is the word you’ll hear a lot when this decision gets talked about. Ridder was becoming his own worst enemy while also still making real progress. https://t.co/ecy0UctexC
— Will McFadden (@willmcfadden) November 19, 2023
They didn't fall out of love with him, he was just so bad they couldn't justify playing him anymore is the best possible spin the state sponsored media can pull out here folks https://t.co/qesQ41dzMc
— Carlton (@CrispyCarlton) November 19, 2023
Moving back to Ridder for the remainder of the season is probably the right move, but this is such a pathetic attempt at damage control.
“Go sit on the bench for a while and think about what you’ve done.” https://t.co/kJToDoCj4F
— kenny g. (@Gritz_Blitz) November 19, 2023
Should’ve never been benched to begin with.
We back. https://t.co/4lr9YhyzIv
— (Fire Smith) Rise Up Ridder (@RiseUpReader) November 19, 2023
Not remotely surprised.
Let’s hope the reset is what he needed. https://t.co/j4C9eeNF6Z pic.twitter.com/B07BdwUx0H— Outta Your Falcon Mind Podcast 🏈 (@OuttaYourFnMind) November 19, 2023
“The Falcons believed the bulk of Ridder's mistakes were correctable” https://t.co/quCgaEM7Ux pic.twitter.com/8kPMRefUvF
— HCF 🍂 (@AdamS1lverHater) November 19, 2023
https://t.co/zHmPJNSQXw pic.twitter.com/rpljGlHnZN
— K (@projectjax) November 19, 2023
They saying we put Ridder in timeout 😭 https://t.co/kCmWiuq9PM
— JJ(TURKEY SZN)🦃🔥 (@JazzyJJ1999) November 19, 2023
Ridder is back after a reset. Hope he comes back better than ever. 🙏🏼 #DirtyBirds https://t.co/VVVXUlbTOR pic.twitter.com/V2cefImgwe
— Carrie (@carrielynnxox) November 19, 2023
https://t.co/znlt12pk7s pic.twitter.com/uemnVXCGlr
— Ev Glaze (@Everett_G07) November 19, 2023
I feel like this was pretty obvious from the start the way they worded things. You set yourself up for disappointment if you genuinely thought Heinicke was gonna stay starter. https://t.co/F6bEa5dyGH
— Tyler Allgeier Enthusiast (@_airhawkeye) November 19, 2023
👀👀 many of fans said this exact thing. But ion know nothing😭😂 https://t.co/6twLPYREPc
— DirtyBirdlover🔥❤️🖤 (@SimplyDirtyBird) November 19, 2023
Arthur Smith got another scapegoat…. This franchise a joke man https://t.co/VEqIqi3Dt5
— International J (@ATL_JHAM) November 19, 2023
https://t.co/E9Dzm2BXBy pic.twitter.com/gsd6W8I38R
— DiehardFalcFan (@DiehardFalcFan) November 19, 2023
