Falcons head coach Mike Smith had a chance to talk about seven of his players earning Pro Bowl spots during his huddle with the Atlanta media Thursday
On the injury report:
"We had a few guys that didn't practice today. LB Curtis Lofton and WR Roddy White didn't practice today, that's really more maintenance. They have been on that program. DT Jonathan Babineaux and C Todd McClure did not participate either. In limited participation we had DE Kroy Biermann and DE John Abraham. Those will be the guys that will be listed on the injury report. Todd's body part is his ankle and Jonathan Babineaux will be his shoulder."
On whether he has heard back from the League on clarification of the double pass interference call Monday:
"No I haven't. In fact I haven't even concerned myself. The official said it was a double pass interference call and it was a double pass interference call and we just left it at that. Again, as I said after the game that's the first time anybody on our staff has ever had a play like that. That's in the past and we've moved on."
On having seven players make the 2011 Pro Bowl roster:
"I am very proud and happy for the guys that made it. To have that number says a lot not only about the individuals but about our team. The guys have worked hard and there are some other guys that I think are capable of being on that list as well. You can't have everybody on it, but I felt that there were a couple guys that had really good seasons. K Matt Bryant for one, DT Jonathan Babineaux has had a good year as well and OT Tyson Clabo. There are a number of guys that have had good seasons."
On whether he thinks Carolina will copy how the Saints covered Roddy:
"Yeah, that's been going on for quite some time. Over the last couple of weeks probably more snaps of it. Again, when you're a Pro Bowl player and you have the production that Roddy has you're going to get that attention whether it be rolled to or bracketed. They're going to try to approach it different ways and we have to be prepared to make sure that we have a plan to try to offset that."
On the weapons on offense:
"From the very beginning, we've talked about having players at all three levels. I think when they take something away they're going to leave something open. We've got to make sure that we can find it and execute because they can't take everything away that's how we feel our offense is set up."
On whether WR Harry Douglas can step up in the offense if Roddy is covered:
"I think it depends on how they're trying to defend us. If the read tells us that we go to Harry depending on where he's aligned or WR Michael Jenkins or TE Tony Gonzalez or have to be able to run the football. Those are all the different options that we would have based on how people are attacking us. This is no different than what we've seen in all 15 games. It's a matter of how people try to defend us is going to dictate how we're going to try to attack them."
On whether he thinks Panthers head coach John Fox will come in with things they haven't seen:
"John's going to do what he thinks he needs to do to win the football game. He's going to evaluate the film and see how he feels he should attack us. We saw one snap of the wild cat when we played them over in Charlotte three weeks ago, You've got to have a plan each and every week whether it's this week against the Panthers, you've got to always be prepared for different things that the offenses can show you. If they show us something that's unscouted we have to go and play our rules. We have rules for almost every situation. We may not have practiced it but we should be able to get out of a down and get over to the sidelines and make adjustments. In game adjustments happen every week. You prepare for something and if it doesn't come your way you've got to be able to adjust."
On how it helps the rest of the defense when the front four get pressure on the quarterback:
"When you can create pressure with the front four then it allows you to cover with seven. It gives you a big advantage. If you don't have to add guys into the pass rush, it really benefits your pass defense. I thought it was one of our better games rushing the passer the last time we played them. We've definitely got to shore up some things in the run game. They ran the ball. They've got two outstanding running backs and I think they do a very good job. Jeff Davidson, their offensive coordinator, is an old offensive linemen and he does a very good job with their blocking schemes."
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