Like
2
ATLANTA -- It's a little more than two hours before kickoff and Mercedes-Benz Stadium is relatively quiet, save for the typical game-day chatter between players, coaches, staffers and insiders before the music starts to blare.
Sitting alone on the Atlanta Falcons bench is Taylor Heinicke with a Falcons camouflage hat and a football between his hands.
The other quarterbacks, Desmond Ridder and Logan Woodside, started their on-field warmups but Heinicke was on the bench, seemingly in thought. Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings was his first NFL start with the Falcons in the metropolitan area he grew up in, the place he returned to this offseason as Ridder's backup.