Raheem Morris Explains Why 17 Years Of Friendship Not Enough To Retain Jimmy Lake

After 17 years of friendship, Morris wanted to give Lake the chance to call plays in the NFL for the first time. He envisioned Lake being a game manager as well. Morris thought that Lake was the team's best bet to succeed.

Plans change, and so did the faith Morris had in Lake just six days after a crushing defeat by the Carolina Panthers, which wrapped up another disappointing season for the Atlanta Falcons. Morris said Tuesday at the NFL league meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., he wanted to step back and evaluate the situation, ensuring he didn't rush into a decision.

According to a statement provided by the Atlanta Falcons, the departure of Lake was deemed "necessary". Morris would also say at the owner's meetings, "We didn't play well enough. It's a production-based business. And as you go through your process, the communication wasn't all the way right. We had to do some things. We had to fix. It just didn't work out, right? Production based business, and those things happen."

With Morris being correct in his decisions and not letting personal feeling get in the way he also stated "Those things always hurt; those things always suck, but you got to go through the process every single year."

Morris had no regrets about hiring an inexperienced play caller to run the defense. Since then, Atlanta has hired Jeff Ulbrich, the former New York Jets defensive coordinator, who also served as the Falcons' interim defensive coordinator in 2020. Ulbrich comes on board having led a potent defense in the past, which should translate over to Atlanta depending on how the NFL Draft plays out