Matt Ryan still is only 32, but Roddy White’s retirement has made the NFL’s MVP consider the end of his career.
“I still feel pretty young,” Ryan said, via Matthew Tabeek of the team website. “It puts things into perspective, for sure. I had eight (seasons) together with Rod, and I’ve never had a better teammate. He was such a great player, a warrior, unbelievable in the locker room, such a good leader by example, brought energy to the facility, to the practice fields, to the games every week.
“And probably no one has meant more to my career than him.”
Ryan enters his 10th season believing he still has a lot of football left in him. He had a career-best season in 2016, throwing for 4,944 yards with 38 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.
“I still feel really good,” Ryan said. “I still feel like I got a lot of football in front of me, and hopefully I can play for a long time. ...You hope for one of those 15- or 20-year careers for sure. That’s what the hope is. With the one thing that I’ve found during my time in this league is that if you project too far out, it’s tough to do that because things change constantly.”
Ryan said he has benefitted from the nutritionist the Falcons added in the offseason. He is trying to eliminate sugar from his diet.