Raheem Morris sums up the Falcons’ approach perfectly

Raheem Morris probably has a better idea of what Dan Quinn cares about and preaches than anyone else on the Falcons’ staff. The two are close friends, and Morris is the assistant head coach, the wide receivers coach, and the passing game coordinator. He’s knee deep in everything Quinn does, in other words.

That’s why it’s not surprising that he gets it, and can articulate what his and Quinn’s philosophy is for the team. Quinn in particular can sometimes seem like a high school football coach with his love of platitudes and slogans, but he’s figured out a way to deliver it in such a way that everyone clearly buys in.

Here’s a quote obtained by our dogged beat reporter Jeanna Thomas that perfectly encapsulates what I’m talking about.

No doubt about it. We love that feeling of pressure, but not for us — we trust our process. There is no such thing as a bigger game. Whatever the next game is, that’s how we’re going to go through our process and handle it that way. Q is true to it. We mean it. There are no emotional roller coaster rides here. We go about and do our business. Every game is a championship game. Every game should be a great challenge, and we want to look at it that way and go attack it that way. Every practice, for that matter. So right now, going out and winning practice, that’s our biggest challenge. That’s the pressure, tomorrow.

Look at the cliches here, which range from the next game/next day are the only ones that matter, we take care of our business, and we leave it all on the field, even for practice. There’s nothing new under the sun, but Raheem Morris is not a man going through the motions and saying what he’s supposed to say, because it’s very evident that everyone from Dan Quinn down to Damontae Kazee buy into it totally. The play on the field is what matters in the end, but you get there by pouring your being into improving, and you get there by being properly motivated. The Falcons don’t look for motivation, and it’s a glorious thing.

I’ve said this before and I’ll repeat it now: If you want evidence that the Falcons can work past one of the most crushing losses in sports history, it’s in this approach.