Rivers, Ryan rank among ironman leaders

FLOWERY BRANCH — The opening question to Matt Ryan’s weekly news conference made the quarterback nervous.

When he was asked about his long streak of consecutive starts, Ryan almost gasped.

“I have to find some wood to knock on first,” Ryan said before adding, “That’s the kiss of death.”

Ryan hasn’t missed a start for the Atlanta Falcons in 105 consecutive regular-season games, a streak that began late in the 2009 season. It’s the NFL’s third-longest active streak for quarterbacks.

On Sunday Ryan will be matched with the name immediately ahead of him on the list, San Diego’s Philip Rivers, whose streak began in 2006 and reached 166 regular-season starts with last week’s win over Denver. Among active quarterbacks, Eli Manning leads the ironman list with his streak of 189 games, well behind Brett Favre’s record of 297. Rivers is known for his quick release, a skill which helps reduce hits from pass rushers.

“I just feel thankful I’ve been blessed to be healthy enough to play,” Rivers said. “... I think all of us quarterbacks take a certain amount of pride in being tough and fighting through things to make sure you are out there for your team.”

Ryan said his secret is sleep — at least nine hours per night.

“There’s no getting around it, sleep is the No. 1 most important thing,” Ryan said. “Every study that you look at, every time you try to do any research on recovery, on training, whatever, any kind of performance-enhancing stuff, it all comes down to sleep.” Matt Ryan

FALCONS