Ryan’s approach to offensive struggles: Stick with the process

FLOWERY BRANCH — Matt Ryan didn’t appear cold in the low temperatures Wednesday, but he and the Falcons’ offense have been stuck in a deep freeze during a four-game losing streak. The running game has been particularly solid — as in frozen — with totals of 71, 80, 26 and 34 yards in losses to Cleveland, Dallas, New Orleans and Baltimore.

Atlanta ranks last in the NFL in rushing, with 79 yards per game, which would be the sixth-lowest average for a season in franchise history. Before the Falcons (4-8) play the Packers (4-7-1) on Sunday in Green Bay, and the quarterback was asked about other issues after commenting on the chill in the air after they practiced outdoors.

“I guess it was the best Atlanta could do to get us ready to go, but it was a good practice for us today, good to get back on the field and for us to have a little wind and a little bit of cooler weather is good because it will be a little bit like that this weekend,” he said.

Here is what else he said:

How can the Falcons jump start the offense, particularly the run game?

We’ve got to execute better as players than we have up to this point. We’ve got to extend some drives, we’ve got to get further into drives to kind of wear a defense down to be able to run it effectively. Last week, we didn’t do a good enough job of staying on the field (2 of 9 third downs and 0 of 1 on fourth down) and extending some of those drives.

The Falcons have converted 18 of 50 third downs during the fourgame skid, including 5 of 10 on third-and-1 and 1 of 5 on third-and-2, so when you say everybody has to execute better, what are specific examples?

From my position, I’ve got to get us into the right spots, the right looks. And then, from other positions, whether it’s blocking technique, angles, tracks for our run game, angles from our wide receivers in outside zone vs. inside zone ... those are all little details that create small gaps or bigger gaps or spaces for us to run.

We all have to kind of pull our weight and execute a little better, and perform the tasks that we’re asked to do a little better.

Is it fair to say the most important part of increasing offensive efficiency is to jack up the running attack?

For sure. It’s one of those things where sometimes your pass numbers are up because you’re in games where you’ve got to pass the ball more. ... I think last week we just weren’t able to get anything going . ...

Our record certainly indicates that, but certainly getting that run game going will help the play-action pass. When we’re at our best, we’re running the football and we’re able to create explosive plays off our play-action pass game. That starts with getting the run game going.

Did the Ravens’ aggressive approach up front last week make it more difficult for you to get the offense in the right looks?

They did a nice job of giving you one look, taking it away, showing another look. They disguise pretty well. Green Bay does some of that as well, so I’ve got to do my best and get us into the best look possible, but Baltimore did do a nice job with that last week.

I think they do a good job rotating and giving you different looks with personnel. That’s probably the No. 1 thing for us from a communication standpoint.”

When the offense struggles and the team is losing, how do you keep frustration from interfering with preparation?

I think I’ve learned how to deal with that better throughout my career. I feel like I’ve got a really good process for myself in terms of preparation and what I do during the week each day to get myself ready to play. I think you trust in that. I’ve always felt like if your process is poor and your results and good, that’s not sustainable.

But sometimes your process is good and the results are not what you want, and having the mental strength and confidence to stick with the process that you know works and puts you in a good position, having confidence in that process knowing that it’s going to come to fruition.

I’ve learned that you don’t make stuff up. You go back to work. You do what you do and do it better.

ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM Matt Ryan is not one to panic when things go awry. “You go back to work,” he said. “You do what you do and do it better.”