Curtis Lofton: Saints-Falcons is not a 'rivalry game'

Although the game Thursday night between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons has the feel of a rivalry game, former Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton, now with the Saints, says that his new team is treating it more like a regular game rather than a rivalry game:

"Being here in this program, I feel like they see it as a divisional game, not a rivalry game."

Part of that may have to do with the fact that the Saints have won 11 of the last 13 games, which includes the Falcons' lone loss this season, a 31-27 defeat on Nov. 11. According to some Saints players, prior to that game Falcons linebackers Sean Weatherspoon and Jonathan Babineaux walked through the Saints' pregame warmups and talked trash to Lofton and other Saints players. Lofton said that those incidents were true on Tuesday.

While Falcons wide receiver Roddy White claimed that the trash talk was playful, Lofton did not seem to take it as such:

"For me, personally, I prefer to go out and do my job and keep my mouth shut and let my actions speak for me instead of words," Lofton said Tuesday. "Some guys love to yap back and forth. It just depends the type person you are."

The Falcons host the Saints at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Thursday Night Football with kickoff scheduled for 8:20 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the NFL Network nationally and in Atlanta on WSTR Star 94 FM and WQXI 790 AM "The Zone"