ATLANTA — After putting some air under the Falcons' wings on Sunday, metro Atlanta native Taylor Heinicke will get a full shot under center for the Dirty Birds in their next game.
Coach Arthur Smith announced at his press conference on Wednesday that Heinicke, 30, will start Atlanta's next game against Minnesota on Sunday. It comes after Heinicke entered the game after halftime in the loss to Tennessee last Sunday.
Heinicke impressed, completing 12 of 21 passes for 175 yards with a touchdown as Atlanta scored 20 points in the second half - their most in a half of football all season.
Desmond Ridder, up til now the starter, left the game over concussion concerns, though he was later cleared. Coach Smith on Wednesday left open the door for Ridder to return to the role, stressing the decision on Heinicke was - for now, at least - limited to this week only.
"Just for this week, you know, just with all the variables - just kind of considering everything of the last 72 hours - what we feel is good, best for this week, for us against Minnesota, is Taylor will play this week," Smith said.
Heinicke, a Collins Hill High School grad, signed with the Falcons from the Washington Commanders in the offseason. Last year with Washington he started nine games in which the Commanders went 5-3-1. He was the Commanders' primary starter the season before, and across the prior two seasons in Washington he threw for 5,278 yards, completed 64% of his attempts and tossed 32 touchdowns to 21 interceptions.
Ridder, a third-round pick in 2022 who was named the starter prior to this season, struggled before coming out Sunday. He threw for just 71 yards on 12 attempts as the Falcons offense sputtered to a three-point first half.
It was a low point for Ridder's stop-and-go first season as starter. He showed flashes early, leading the Falcons to back-to-back wins to start the season over Carolina and Green Bay while largely minimizing mistakes and showing flashes of his potential. But the Falcons failed to crack 10 points in their next two games, both losses, and after a win over Houston he threw three interceptions in a 24-16 loss to Washington on Oct. 15.
Atlanta scraped by with a win over Tampa Bay the following week, but again failed to do much offensively in the 16-13 victory. Smith, nonetheless, has continued to back Ridder.
"We just finished this game; obviously we got a lot of confidence in Des," the coach said after Sunday's game against Tennessee. "We didn't take him out for performance issues, but that's why Taylor's here -- to be able to come in as a backup and give us a shot to win."