team’s performance Black Grady Jarrett Jersey , saying he won’t tolerate laziness on defense following his team’s 31-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.Carolina’s eighth-year head coach was upset after watching his normally stingy defense allow Matt Ryan and the Falcons to roll up 442 yards on offense Sunday and score on five of their first seven possessions.The Falcons, playing without starting running back Devonta Freeman, ran for 170 yards and Ryan completed 23 of 28 passes for 272 yards and combined for four TDs. Tevin Coleman ran for 107 yards, snapping Carolina’s string of 21 straight games without allowing an opposing running back to run for 100 yards.Rivera described Carolina’s problems as part-mental and part-physical. He said Monday that the team struggled with its run fits on defense and “a couple of times (we were) playing behind and playing a little lazy — and we can’t accept that.”Rivera said the performance was not up to the standard set by former defensive coordinators Sean McDermott and Steve Wilks, both of whom have gone on to become NFL head coaches. The Panthers have consistently been one of the league’s top-ranked defenses since Rivera arrived in 2011.“We are not going to tolerate it,” Rivera said. “We are going to put players out on the field that we believe are doing it our way and playing hard and giving us every opportunity to succeed.”Panthers new defensive coordinator Eric Washington, who was promoted from defensive line coach this past offseason, called it a “tough day at the office.”When asked about Rivera’s comments about the defense being a little lazy, Washington replied, “If that is the way coach characterized it then I will follow suit with that. If we need to play faster, with more effort and more energy than that is what we are going to do.”Washington said the Panthers struggled with the Falcons’ zone-wide blocking scheme.He pointed to the team’s defensive tackles, saying they need to play with better technique and “set the table” for the rest of the defense to make plays.Too often on Sunday, middle linebacker Kuechly’s path to the ball carrier was hindered by blockers getting to the second line of defense.“When we talk about that scheme we emphasize with our defensive tackles they have to play great,” Washington said. “That means they have penetrate and get great edges set and allow our linebackers have to play downhill. A couple of times we weren’t exactly doing that to the degree we’ve done it in the past. It created some indecision with the second level of the defenders. It wasn’t as clean of a look for those guys.”Carolina’s Dontari Poe agreed that he and the team’s other defensive tackles need to be on their game and play more physical against the Falcons, but wouldn’t go as far as to characterize the play of the defense as lazy.“We missed some stuff at times Grady Jarrett Jersey 2019 , and a couple of times people could have made plays that they didn’t,” Poe said. “It’s just small things we need to fix.”Washington’s job isn’t going to get any easier this week when the Panthers host the Cincinnati Bengals.The Panthers could be without starting cornerback Donte Jackson (hamstring) and safety Da’Norris Searcy (concussion), which means some adjustments in the secondary. Both players left the Atlanta game with injuries.But he’s confident the Panthers defense will bounce back.“We will shore those things up, and we will be ready to go,” Washington said. “You will see the Panthers defense we are all accustomed to seeing.”___ FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP)Falcons coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff turned their focus to defense in the second and third rounds of the NFL draft Friday night, adding depth with cornerback Isaiah Oliver and bringing aboard a potential starter in 300-pound tackle Deadrin Senat.Defensive tackle was the team’s biggest need heading into the second day after Dontari Poe left as a free agent last month for Carolina, but Atlanta decided first to go with a cornerback, a position that was thinned after Jalen Collins, a second-round pick in 2015, played less than two full seasons after violating drug-testing rules.Oliver, chosen in the second round at 58th overall out of Colorado, will slot in behind starting corners Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford. Named first-team All-Pac 12 despite missing two games with a leg injury, Oliver had two interceptions and 15 passes defended last season.”We think that he has some of the best ball skills in the draft, hands down Black Brian Poole Jersey ,” Dimitroff said. ”He’s a very talented, all-around versatile athlete.”Oliver worked out for the Falcons last month at Colorado and felt he impressed the team.”I would say it’s just my athleticism along with my refined technique,” Oliver said. ”That’s something I’ve always worked on these last three years, especially just the little things – at the line of scrimmage, where I have my eyes, where I have my arms. I just try to make those things as crisp as possible to help me out on game day.”Atlanta used the 90th overall pick to get an interior pass rusher. Senat, a 6-foot-1, 314-pound senior from South Florida, had six sacks in 12 games. He will compete with veteran Jack Crawford for the starting job alongside defensive line leader Grady Jarrett.”We’re going to put him at nose tackle,” Quinn said. ”He’s got really good quickness for a big guy.”Under first-time coordinator Marquand Manuel last season, the Falcons’ defense was better than the year before, moving into the top 10 in scoring and total yards for the first time at the end of the regular season the 1998 Falcons advanced to the Super Bowl.The difference came in giving up less explosive plays. Atlanta improved 15 spots to rank No. 8 in passes allowed of at least 20 yards and went from 25th to No. 2 in runs allowed of at least 20 yards.The Falcons’ first-round pick, former Alabama receiver Calvin Ridley toured team headquarters earlier in the day, taking pictures with Quinn and Dimitroff and showing off his new No. 18 jersey.Ridley, drafted No. 26 overall Brian Poole Jersey 2019 , was the second receiver picked in the first round, two spots after Maryland’s D.J. Moore went to Carolina.Ridley insists his chief concern was getting drafted by a team that will let him fit in quickly, but he’s also ready to prove that a lot of clubs were mistaken to pass him up.”I definitely can play in and outside,” Ridley said. ”I just want to prove the doubters wrong, you know, that I am the best receiver in the draft, that I am a great player and that I can walk into any situation and be a great player.”Ridley gives the passing attack fills a big need – a second deep threat to pair with Julio Jones, a two-time All-Pro and a five-time Pro Bowl selection. Mohamed Sanu is a strong veteran presence as a possession receiver, but Atlanta wants to take some pressure off Jones while wearing down a secondary.Quinn believes Ridley has just the right mix of game-changing speed and underestimated strength at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds.”The main reason is he can really get lateral,” Quinn said. ”He can really break. He’s hard to press because of that ability, but he’s more wiry strong than small. He’s not little. He’s not big. He’s just strong.”The offense needed a spark after dropping from first to 15th in scoring last year as opponents held Jones to just three touchdowns and the running back tandem of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman missed time with concussions.—