FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Desmond Ridder was in the Atlanta Falcons quarterback meetings the past two game weeks, and while he tried to help, he also found himself doing something else: learning.
Ridder, who began the season as Atlanta's starting quarterback only to be demoted for two games before taking over as starter again, tried to approach everything the same.
But being the backup to Taylor Heinicke offered a new perspective. In some ways, it allowed him to observe and see things almost the way a coach would. It allowed him to process day-to-day activities differently because unlike last season when he was the backup to Marcus Mariota for the first three months of the season, this time he had the experience of being an NFL starter, too.