Falcons 'Same S***, Different Year!' Grady Jarrett Sounds Off After Playoff Elimination
The Atlanta Falcons have experienced some incredible highs and lows over the past eight years, and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett has been around for all of it.
From starring in the crushing Super Bowl loss to being one of the few constants on rebuilding teams, Jarrett's been a bright light for some time ... but spirit-wise, maybe he's starting to dim.
And who wouldn't?
"Disappointed," said Jarrett, the 29-year-old Jarrett who hasn't played a postseason game in five seasons and who now isn't mincing words following Atlanta's loss in Baltimore."You try so hard, but same s***, different year."
As a rookie, Jarrett watched as the Falcons started the 2015 season 5-0 before falling to 8-8 and missing the playoffs.
The year after, he was a starter on what was arguably Atlanta's best team ever, winning the NFC Championship in dominating fashion before blowing a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl.
The Falcons made the playoffs once more the year after but fell short in the divisional round, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles after a late goal-line stand. At the time, Jarrett was just 24 years old and quickly developing into a force inside, poised to anchor Atlanta through playoff runs for years to come.
Fast-forward to the locker room Saturday in Baltimore, where the Falcons lost 17-9 to the Ravens and saw their playoff hopes officially come crashing down. At the season's halfway point, Atlanta led the NFC South ... but has lost six of its last seven games since.
Jarrett has started the last 76 games that the Falcons have played dating back to 2018, earning two Pro Bowl nods and an All-Pro honor.
He's the second-longest tenured player on the team behind left tackle Jack Matthews and signed a three-year contract extension this past offseason, showing his commitment to the organization moving forward.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith has dubbed Jarrett the team's undisputed leader, and perhaps nobody embodies what Smith is trying to build more than Jarrett ... but the player is distraught about the way this season has unraveled.
"You've got to keep fighting, but everybody's fighting," said Jarrett. "We've got to win some games, we've got to finish strong as we can, but to not even have a chance to be in the postseason, mess that up, it's frustrating."
The "mess that up" part is particularly telling as to where Jarrett's mind is surrounding his outlook on the team, and it's certainly warranted. A fifth-round pick in 2015, Jarrett has given his heart to Atlanta - and has largely had very little team success on the field to show for it.
Potentially the most disappointing and "frustrating" part of the campaign is that the NFC South was firmly up for grabs. Even though Atlanta entered Saturday with a 5-9 record, it was only one game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the division lead, the door propped open.
But the Falcons couldn't capitalize ... and while it "bothers" Jarrett, he seemed to begin to ponder if it didn't bother some of his teammates nearly as much.
"It hit me," Jarrett said. "I don't know if everybody around ... it bothers me very much, and we'll see how everything else shakes out."
Jarrett broke off his thoughts after the word "around," taking an exasperated breath, shaking his head and continuing on with the sentence.
He's got two more games with this group - the second youngest in the NFL - before getting another long, playoff-less offseason to refresh and prepare for another season ... with the hopes that it's not the "same s***" as years past.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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