The Atlanta Falcons, losers of four consecutive games and five of their past six, held a players-only meeting in an attempt to get back on the winning track.
According to multiple reports, the players held the meeting on Tuesday as the 6-5 Falcons prepare for Sunday’s game against the 5-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It is unclear how long the meeting lasted, but head coach Dan Quinn was informed before it took place, according to ESPN.
Quarterback Matt Ryan has struggled with 13 turnovers — 10 interceptions and three lost fumbles — over the past seven games.
“I know that I’m capable of doing it, and I believe that I’m going to do it every time we step onto the field,” Ryan said during his weekly radio show on Tuesday of playing at a high level. “You have to believe in your ability. You have to believe in the guys around you. And I do. And I expect every time I go onto the field to play at a really high level and give us a winning performance. I haven’t done that the last couple weeks, but it’s in there. I’m hell-bent on doing everything that I can to ensure that happens this week.”
The Falcons started the season 5-0 before a 31-21 loss to the NFC South rival New Orleans Saints in Week 6 on Oct. 15.
Ryan, under his second contract that he signed in 2013, is still due to receive more than $50 million over the next three seasons. He gets a base salary of $15.75 million in 2016, $15.75 million in 2017 and $19.25 million in 2018.
Ryan already has received a $28 million signing bonus, a $12 million option bonus and base salaries of $23 million over the last three years, according to Pro Football Talk.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said this week he has confidence in Ryan despite the struggles.
“Absolutely,” Blank told ESPN.com. “He’s demonstrated his abilities over eight years. He’ll be fine. He’ll be good.
“Am I worried about Matt? I’m worried about Matt, and I’m worried about the team. We’re actually 1-5 in the last six games. We were off to a great start (5-0). But this unit (the coaching staff) will figure it out.”
Quinn once again expressed his support for Ryan and said he is not thinking about benching any players at this point.
“He’s absolutely the competitor that I want. He’s what we look for and our team looks for the whole way,” Quinn said of Ryan. “What we’ll go back and look at is, find out was there a decision that could be made that could be different. If there is in those scenarios, then we’ll find those and say, ‘Where else could you have gone with it?’ Those will be decisions that we look at. But for him, the competitor (and) the style of player that he is, we’re not backing off.”