Matt Ryan says 'I'll be ready' for Saints even after beat down versus Buccaneers
ATLANTA -- Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan faced 31 pressures against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. In the rivalry matchup, the Buccaneers recorded six sacks and 13 quarterback hits on Ryan.
No team wants to see its quarterback ever take that kind of beating, but it's especially bad with a short week upcoming. The Falcons have the quickest turnaround of the season with their matchup against the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving night.
But Ryan wasn't leaving any room for excuses and left little doubt that he will be physically alright by Thursday.
"I'll be ready to go," Ryan said during his postgame press conference on Sunday. "Some games are like that (physically). That's part of playing in this league. Sometimes teams are going to get after you."
The obvious hope for Atlanta, though, is that Ryan doesn't face that same type of pressure against the Saints. Without an ability to run the ball, the Falcons attempted 53 passes, allowing the Buccaneers to rush the pass on almost every play, especially in the second half.
Atlanta's offensive line will have to fix its problems from Sunday quickly in order to protect its quarterback against the Saints.
"We have to be able to move on and begin the game plan for Thursday night tomorrow (Monday)," Ryan said. "Get some rest tonight. Try to recover quickly, but get back to work tomorrow."
The Falcons will host the Saints on Thursday at 8:20 pm ET. The two teams just met 16 days ago in New Orleans with the Falcons defeating the Saints, 26-9.
