ATLANTA -- Desmond Ridder had run in a touchdown a moment earlier when television cameras caught him on the team's bench, a broad smile on his face. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback would later insist it was nothing specific.
No sense of relief or satisfaction after seven days where his job as the team's starting quarterback was thoroughly questioned publicly. The reaction was natural because this week was no different than any other.
It was just his play that was. Ridder had his first 300-yard game, fourth game-winning drive and third fourth-quarter comeback of his career in Atlanta's 21-19 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, one where he was particularly sharp throughout.
Ridder grew Sunday. He completed a career-high 28 passes (on 37 attempts) for a career-best 75.7%. His 329 yards -- a career-high, as was his 8.29 yards per attempt. He had one passing touchdown and rushed for another.
In start No. 9 of his career -- the same number of starts as his jersey number -- he looked as comfortable as he ever has in two years as a pro. The offense followed along, seven drives of seven plays or more, including the last four drives of the game -- three of which ended in scores.
Which is why when the Falcons got the ball back, trailing 19-18 with 1:49 left, there wasn't concern. There wasn't panic. Ridder wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone else -- maybe just a little bit to himself. The "growth mindset" he talked about was tangible in those moments.
He completed all five of his pass attempts on his final drive -- three to Drake London, one to Bijan Robinson and one to Kyle Pitts, who had a season-best seven catches for 87 yards. He handled himself well in a pressure situation yet again.
"Proved that we could stay calm, we could stay collected," Ridder said. "That was our first, I think really one of my first true two-minute drives obviously, go win the game, whatever it was.
"Like we said, just calm, cool, collected. Didn't rush anything, didn't try to force anything. Just played it as it came."
This after two weeks where Atlanta scored one touchdown over eight quarters and where, in front of a national audience, Ridder threw interceptions on back-to-back passes -- leading to a lot of questions about his job.
Ridder insisted he handled nothing different.
"Just like any other week, put my head down, go to work," Ridder said. "We talk about it all the time, a growth mindset. For us and a lot of players in this league, a lot of us try to block out what's going on the outside and really only care about what's going on inside of the building.
"In our inside of the building, it's a growth mindset."
This is what the Falcons players and coaches had seen before -- in practice and in spurts during games. Sunday against Houston was perhaps Atlanta's most sustained effort throughout. It happened, in part, because of how Ridder handled the week.
Taylor Heinicke, Atlanta's backup quarterback, has been in situations where the starting quarterback has received public criticism before. Heinicke thought Ridder handled everything "very, very well." He's seen what good has looked like in those situations and sometimes what not-as-good has looked like.
And Ridder made an impression with his preparation and how he wasn't flustered by anything that might have been said about him. Ridder, Heinicke said, showed "determination" throughout the week to improve.
It showed Sunday.
"There was a lot of talk out there," Heinicke said. "And he silenced it."
All week, his teammates backed Ridder publicly and privately. They encouraged him -- Robinson sent Ridder a text message which meant a lot -- and then saw how he handled the extra negative attention.
His coach, Arthur Smith, wanted to see Ridder's response to his Week 4 performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is then, Smith said, when you learn the most about people. When they've faced tough times, Smith saw glimpses in the second half against Jacksonville, when Ridder led a touchdown drive out of halftime.
He saw more Sunday against the Texans after what he deemed "a great job all week preparing." Smith's assessment of his quarterback Sunday? "Pretty damn good," he said.
Fullback Keith Smith said there wasn't a difference in Ridder in the huddle Sunday -- and "that's one of his strengths." There wasn't pressing. There wasn't concern. Same Ridder personality, merely a different, more productive on-field result.
"He already has the confidence. He's already that leader," London said. "This game is just another building block to his résumé."