FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons have made a few notable changes in the days since losing 30-0 to the Carolina Panthers, particularly with their offensive staff.
On Monday, head coach Raheem Morris said offensive coordinator Zac Robinson would move from calling plays in the coaches' booth to the field, citing communication as the primary reason.
"We need to be able to be more efficient, faster," Morris said. "... Zac has been on the field his whole life. He sees the game just as well on the field as up in the box. ... Being on the grass, he provides a different type of energy when he is down there talking to everybody, wideouts, the quarterback, our o-line, our coaches all involved on the headset, but him being around everything will be good for all of us."
By Monday evening, the organization had relieved wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard of his duties. Pass game coordinator T.J. Yates is expected to take on an expanded role and coach receivers, which he did previously for Atlanta during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Asked what led to the move, Morris said the decision was "performance-based."
"We're going in a different direction," Morris said. "We're moving T.J. into that room, doing some things that we need to do in there as far as the detail, all the things we want to get done in there as far as from a bigger scale in terms of our offense and getting better and all those different things. Tough decisions. People business. Hard for me. Hard for the organization. Hard on Ike's family. But it's a decision I felt like I needed to make at this time and we did."
The decision comes after a 2024 season in which Drake London, Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud experienced career highs in multiple statistical categories. This season, however, no wide receiver or tight end has recorded a touchdown catch through three weeks, an obvious issue Morris pointed to as an identifier of what needs to change for Atlanta.
"We have to score touchdowns," Morris said. "We have to fix our red-zone offense. We have to score when necessary. We have been able to move the ball but we have not been able to finish within our movement of the ball."
In the locker room after Wednesday's practice, McCloud spoke on Hilliard's dismissal. McCloud and Hilliard first crossed paths when both were with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020-21.
"It's always tough losing a coach that you love. But for me, I am going to finish what we started. He was one of the reasons I came here. I played my butt off for him. He was a staple in our room and we are going to hold it down for him," McCloud said. "It ain't really nothing to it. Go ball. He's not catching the ball on Sundays. We still have to do our job."
In other offensive news, Morris also addressed the concern around Michael Penix Jr.'s play in the loss, saying it was an "uncharacteristic" performance, and one that had Penix "down on himself." However, Morris does not believe the performance is indicative of pitfalls ahead for the young quarterback.
"Mike's our quarterback and we have a lot of confidence in Mike," Morris said. "We're moving forward because Mike's the guy."
Later, Morris added: "We're not even close to that moment with Mike" — referring to a potential move away from Penix as the starter — "Mike had a bad game. We had a bad day as a team. And it's easy for everybody to pile on the head coach, the coordinator, obviously, the quarterback. You're first in line for the wounds. He's just in line right now. He had a bad game, but he'll bounce back and I have a lot of confidence he'll bounce back."
Finally, Morris was asked for comment on national and local critique on offensive play calling being predictable.
"When you play as bad as we played last week, rightfully so," Morris said. "Throw those things. Throw those stones. There's no doubt. We were clearly predictable last week that we could not do anything, so rightful stone throwers. Throw away. I have no arguments. No fights. No nothing against that."
