Desmond Ridder gets called out by Falcons coach

Desmond Ridder

It’s not a secret to anyone who watched the Atlanta Falcons play this past season that quarterback Desmond Ridder struggled mightily throughout the season, even getting benched in favor of Taylor Heinicke in the middle of the season, who didn’t perform any better. New Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris sure took notice of the struggles, and he wasn’t shy about calling out Ridder for it.

During his press conference on Tuesday at the 2024 NFL Combine, Raheem Morris called out Desmond Ridder for his struggles last year, pointing out that if the team had better quarterback play last season there’s a solid chance that the Falcons would not have had to fire previous head coach Arthur Smith.

“If we had better quarterback play, I’m probably not standing here at this podium,” Morris said according to Pro Football Talk.

It’s obviously a pretty harsh assessment of the way the quarterbacks performed last season, but he’s not the only person in the Falcons organization who seems to think this way. During his press conference on Tuesday, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot made it clear that the team will be looking for a new quarterback this offseason.

“Yeah, we’ve got to get it right, and that’s real clear. We haven’t shied away from that,” Fontenot said. “We know that’s critical to get that position right, but it doesn’t stop there. We have to get the right quarterback in, and we have to improve this entire roster and get ready to roll this season.”

It’s not clear who will be the team’s starting quarterback next season, but it’s very clear that it won’t be Ridder.

[Pro Football Talk]