Falcons to start QB Taylor Heinicke, bench Desmond Ridder against Vikings

The Atlanta Falcons (4-4) will start Taylor Heinicke at quarterback in the team's Week 9 game hosting the Minnesota Vikings, head coach Arthur Smith told reporters on Wednesday.

"Just kinda considering everything in the last 72 hours and what we feel is good, best for this week for us against Minnesota, Taylor will play this week," he said, noting the decision is "just for this week."

Heinicke entered Sunday's game, a 28-23 loss to the Tennessee Titans, to start the second half after starter Desmond Ridder was taken out to be evaluated for a concussion. The NFL journeyman was 12-of-21 for 175 yards and a score. The Falcons had 17 first downs on the day.

"I think we just stuck to the game plan," he said. "Take the easy completion, take the guy that's open and try and get first downs. If you get enough first downs, next thing you know, you're in scoring position and once we get down there, just try and score a touchdown."

Heinicke, 30, is no stranger to stepping in from the backup role as he did last year for the Washington Commanders when Carson Wentz broke his finger, and a season earlier when Ryan Fitzpatrick also had an injury.

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"This isn't foreign territory to me," he said after the game. "I've lived this last two years."

Ridder, 24, was medically cleared to return on Sunday, but was held out anyways. He has thrown for 1,701 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions this season. He's been sacked 25 times and the Falcons averaged 16.4 points per game, fourth fewest in the league.

Heinicke said he wasn't eager to start for Ridder.

"This is Desmond's team," he said. "He's played great throughout the year, obviously, there's a couple hiccups here and there, but he's progressing every week. He's working hard. (Logan Woodside) and I are doing everything we can to help him in any way we can. Ultimately, that's Arthur's decision, but tomorrow we're gonna come in, try and get better from the film and proceed as usual."

Ridder started four games last year as a rookie, replacing Marcus Mariota and went .500, closing out the season with two wins. He threw two touchdowns in the season finale, a division win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He said after the loss that he understood the possibility of his role being on the line.

"At the end of the day, obviously, Taylor came in and did great, did the job, got moving and put points on the board," he said. "... It's a game of being able to come out and execute. The past couple weeks have been tough as far as the execution part of it, like I said, there's a lot of things in all games that we can clean up and be better at."