Atlanta Falcons Coach Arthur Smith 5-Minute Bijan Robinson Answer: What'd He Actually Say?
Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith stood at the podium and listened to the question being asked.
It centered around the goal line usage of rookie sensation running back Bijan Robinson, who has only one carry inside the five-yard line this season.
Smith opened his mouth and began.
“Well, I think a lot of it – again, the results are what they are,” Smith said. “So, this is to give some context to it because a smart friend of mine, too, we were talking about nuance and context.”
Over a span that lasted just shy of five minutes and included 1,074 words, Smith added plenty of context - but what did he really say about Robinson?
The first half of his message centered around Atlanta's red zone offense as an entity, with Smith noting when results aren't achieved, criticism is warranted.
As such, the Falcons' coaching staff has tried to be objective in its assessment of the red zone offense.
“So, what does that mean? You have to go look at things that didn’t work – why you did stuff and what your intent is," Smith said. "'Ok, well, why the result? So, you have to look at your mistakes and your failures and say, ‘Alright, this is our intent, what we’re thinking about, or how do I objectively fix that?’ That’s where you have to be objectively honest.
"That’s the only way you improve. So, whether you’re coaching or you’re a player or in any industry, that’s real, and that’s what we strive to do every week."
Smith continued by noting he never thought he was perfect, following up Sunday's message that his decisions don't involve his ego. He's often taken accountability for Atlanta's struggles.
The next phase of Smith's message involved statistics, as he stated that across 28 red zone trips, Atlanta's scored 14 touchdowns - "Fifty percent, not where you want to be," he said.
The league leaders are often in the mid to high sixties, Smith said. During his time as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator, his units neared 75 percent. The goal, of course, is to be at 100 percent.
Smith then dissected the entire season's worth of red zone opportunities, explaining certain field goal scenarios, his thought process on some plays and what went wrong on others.
"We’ve had to kick field goals nine times. Two of them were situational: win the game, right? Green Bay and Houston. So those are two," Smith said. "The other seven, we had three fumbles down in Tampa. A turnover on downs we had against Jacksonville that we tried to cut it from the six-and-a-half on the fourth down sprint out to Drake (London).
"So, we have 99 plays, give or take – and that’s including things that have been nullified by penalties whether that’s offense, pre-snap or even defensive penalties."
This largely concluded the broader contextual aspect of Smith's message. From there, he asked two questions to explain his stance as the play caller - what's your intent and who are you targeting?
Smith gave a similar answer to what he's said in years past about London and tight end Kyle Pitts, who, like Robinson, haven't always been involved as much as their top-10 draft pick status warrants.
"A lot of times on the drop back, maybe the number one read was Kyle, maybe it was Drake. Well, (the defense has) a say," Smith said. "They took it away, and you have pressure to attack on the other side, so the ball went there. Or unfortunately you got sacked or something negative happened."
None of these are excuses, Smith said, but rather a reality.
What's also a reality is that Robinson, who, at No. 8 overall, became the highest-drafted running back since Saquon Barkley in 2018, has only one rushing touchdown and three total scores to his name.
The lack of redzone opportunities is a key reason why - but Smith reiterated that, like with London and Pitts as receivers, Robinson is a featured element in the play but doesn't end up getting the ball.
"The intent is he, among other people, when we’ve been in sync, it’s been pretty good," Smith said. "There have been some zone reads. That’s been a really good play for us. So, the play, if he hands it, that’s going to him. Well, we pulled it, and that’s been a pretty positive play for us down there."
During his time as Atlanta's starting quarterback, Desmond Ridder had multiple rushing touchdowns that stemmed off the aforementioned read options.
In this instance, Robinson not receiving the ball is more than acceptable - but there have been many other instances where that wasn't exactly the case.
Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith delivered a near-five-minute answer on running back Bijan Robinson's redzone usage.
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Consider in Sunday's 31-28 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, during which Atlanta had the ball at Minnesota's one-yard line after a fumble recovery from outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter.
The first play of the Falcons' drive was a false start, and the next was a five-yard completion to get the yardage back. So really, no harm, no foul.
The ensuing play was an end-around sweep to tight end Jonnu Smith for no gain. The play after that was a toss to running back Tyler Allgeier for a three-yard loss.
Robinson didn't get a touch. Atlanta settled for a field goal and cost itself a shot at three, likely four, points. Minnesota ultimately won by three.
Here, Smith chose Allgeier over Robinson, a decision he stands by. He also mentioned running back Cordarrelle Patterson may be involved further.
It's all part of a broader push to generate more balance offensively, even if on the surface, it's taking the ball away from the player who's perhaps best suited for the job.
"Tyler has been pretty damn good on goal line runs, short yardage," Smith said, "Again, nothing’s perfect. Then, where are you using other guys? Sometimes you build in run alerts. Maybe you’re going to CP. Maybe you’re going to Bijan, Jonnu or whoever.
"So, you look at it and you look at 99 plays – not all of them count because of penalties or some of them in two-point – it’s been pretty balanced."
Shouldn't the balance sway in the red zone to prioritize certain players over others? In a sense, the Falcons have done that, Smith argued, but the wealth of playmakers around him also contribute to this.
"He’s been at the tip of the spear at most of them," Smith said. "Now, the ball hasn’t gone to him every time. It’s not going to go to every player every time because we have a lot of good players."
Smith followed suit by reasserting it's his job to get the Falcons better than 50 percent on redzone trips, a mark that currently sits tied for No. 19 in the NFL.
Last season, the Falcons were marginally better in the redzone, scoring touchdowns on 55 percent of their trips, tied for No. 14 in the league.
By adding Robinson to a unit bringing back four-fifths of its offensive line and most weapons, this number was only expected to increase. Instead, it's gone the other way.
Atlanta has a lot of weapons who can bring value to the redzone, and Smith is trying to involve each of them - but it's yet to be reflected statistically.
"Our intent, we try to be very balanced," Smith said. "We’ve used everybody. (Robinson) has scored. He’s led to a lot of points. Some of it, whether he’s gotten the ball or not, and then other times – like with all of our players – we’ve got to find other ways to make sure we’re more lethal down in the red zone. That’s the way we look at it."
Fixing redzone offense is the No. 1 job Smith has to do, he said. Neither he nor the coaching staff is running from it, acknowledging the dilemma as the blunt reality.
The same principles exist for other issues around the team, be it within protection or tackling, the latter being particularly prominent after the Falcons missed 16 tackles against the Vikings.
Another potential conundrum is team morale, with the Falcons having lost two games in a row and five of their last seven after starting 2-0.
The optimism that reached great heights early in the season has distinguished. Now, the Falcons are facing adversity and learning quite a bit about themselves - and Smith likes what he's finding out.
"I know this: we have the right guys in the locker room, we have the right staff," Smith said. "We’re not excited about where we’re at, but we’re not dead, and we’re not out of it, and we get the chance to go do something about it. That’s what you want. You don’t want adversity, but it will tell you a lot about yourself."
In some respects, Smith likes to keep things private - take his handling of the decision to move from Ridder to Taylor Heinicke at quarterback, opting to store the reasons behind closed doors.
But in this case, Smith isn't hiding.
"Both things can be true: haven’t been good enough, our intent has been good at times," Smith said. "Other times, let’s do a better job, but you’re not going to get there unless you look at your mistakes and your failures and say, ‘Ok, I know why I did something. Pretty sure, confident going in. We may have called it, but it didn’t work.’"
That process has led to a plethora of additional questions facing Atlanta's third-year coach, with nobody searching for answers more diligently than himself.
"'Ok, why didn’t it work? What can I do better? How do you adjust? How do we get everything so we’re rolling on all cylinders?'" Smith said. "If you go to the last five games and you’re averaging close to 400 yards, great. You’re not throwing a party because we need to win more."
In the final 10 seconds, Smith provided a fine summation of the previous 4:45.
"So, ok, what’s causing the issues? There’s a lot that goes into it, but that’s what our job is every day," Smith said.
And just like that, perhaps the longest answer of Smith's tenure as Falcons coach came to an end - but the biggest question of all still exists: will Robinson became a more featured presence in the redzone Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals?
The answer comes at 4:05 p.m. EST inside State Farm Stadium, but the preliminary returns from Smith's press conference seems to lean in the direction that little will change moving forward.
