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Opening Remarks: “We had a tough one this afternoon. (They’re) a good Atlanta team that has good skill people on offense and a lot of speed on defense. For the home opener we wanted to do better than we showed, but I thought the first half the guys competed. They played well and it was a good football game score-wise. Then the second half we come out, we let some things occur, we started pressing, then we ended up getting too far behind as the game went on because we were trying to make plays rather than what they were trying to give us at that time. Sometimes that's the course of the game; that's the course of this business – the pressure of trying to win – some guys do that [try to make plays]. I was kind of pleased with the offense and the way they operated in the first half. Defensively, we weren't able to stop them, and they were able to throw the ball consistently. We did decent in the running game, but in the passing game, we need to do a lot better on the defensive side of the ball. The runners made a contribution; the tight ends made a contribution, the wide receivers made catches, so offensively there are some bright things. Defensively, the fact that we were able to stop the run, that's important for us. Now what we have to do is do a better job of rushing the passer and containing the quarterback, then do a better job of covering. What I told [the team] was that the season is a marathon; it's not a sprint. Even though we worked to win this one, we weren't able to win this one; we have at least 15 more to play, so we cannot let this one negatively affect the next 15. We have to learn from our mistakes, go back to work and get better. That's always the case. If your team will work to get better, then they have a chance to get better. The next test will be next Sunday on the road. That's what we're going to look to do [get better for the next game].”

How long will it take to fix the problems? “Hopefully it will take a week. But if it doesn't take a week, it will take two weeks. But we're going to work to get them better no matter how long it takes.”

Will having LB Tamba Hali and CB Brandon Flowers back eliminate some of the problems? “Only time will tell. We have to wait to get those guys back and wait to see what their contribution will be and how that will impact us. The fact that they weren't there today, really no one cares because all they want to know is, 'Did you win or did you lose?' We lost today, so we have to try to do what we can to win the next one.”

Was Flowers at all close to being ready to play today, in your opinion? “Well he's been doing more at practice, so we will find out next week. We'll see what he can do in practice, then he'll play. If he can't practice, then he won't play.”

Was it a tough decision to not play Flowers today? “Well, he hasn't practiced much so we didn't play him.”

If your defense has another day like this, what makes you think that the offense, especially the quarterback, will be able to keep you in the game? “The first half. Today the offense kept us in the game in the first half. They scored points, they moved the ball; I thought that was encouraging.”

What did you see from QB Matt Cassel, in the second half, today? “We saw the game. We saw the first half and the second half. The second half he wasn't nearly as good as he was in the first half. In the first half, I thought he was pretty decent. The second half, he was pressing and trying to make plays and ended up with a couple of turnovers as a result.”

What is WR Jon Baldwin's role in this offense? “Well he's trying to develop a role in the offense. He's working at it, and I think eventually he will have his spot and he will be making plays, but it just didn't come up today.”