"During his Falcons career, quarterback Matt Ryan's film-room attendance has been well known.

That's where he finds solace in self-critiques and comes up with various improvement plans, and where he finds what works league-wide and incorporates into the Falcons offense.

This offseason, however, Ryan stepped outside the film room out of necessity. During the 132-day lockout, Ryan was the main organizer of the players-led practices at Buford High and taught the playbook to rookie wide receiver Julio Jones, working hands on.

With no coaches around, Ryan helped lay out plans for what the offense would look like this season.

Ryan found some positive things the unit could carry forward from a 13-3 season, where the Falcons won the NFC South and finished ranked fifth in scoring (25.6 points per game) and 16th in total offense (341.1 yards) in the league.

"We were really good in third-down situations last year and we were pretty good in first- and second-down situations; we gave ourselves a lot of third-and-makeables," Ryan said.

Yet Ryan was honest about his and the unit's shortcomings.

"One of the areas, and it's been talked about a lot, is a focus for me, [and that's] throwing the ball down the field and working with the guys throwing the ball down the field," Ryan said."