Arthur Smith knows he’s going to be asked about the quarterback position weekly from now until the end of the season. He’s not particularly keen about that, and is making that known to reporters lobbing those questions at him, but it would be hard to say the Falcons’ head coach is surprised by some fans calling for Desmond Ridder and reporters repeatedly asking when and if we might see him.
That’s a function of where the Falcons are. They’re 4-6 at the moment, coming off back-to-back ugly losses where Marcus Mariota has mixed a few very nice throws and trademark effective scrambles with some really poor decisions, and they have a rookie quarterback the front office raved about waiting for an opportunity.