I think an important part of avoiding problems in the joint practices was having officials there, even for the one-on-one segments. Some of the issues other teams had last year broke out because of pathetic taunting and a few dirty acts here and there, probably in retaliation for some previous real or perceived wrong-doing. But with the refs there to throw the flags - including for unsportsmanlike conduct, guys are more likely to keep things in check. Latest updates... head coach Arthur Smith said the injury to Clark Phillips isn't all that serious. No word yet on whether he'll be able to play Friday. Jonnu Smith is back in practice and ramping up his participation. Calais Campbell is also ramping up, but at a slower pace. I wouldn't be surprised if Campbell is held out of Friday's game. If he does play, it will likely be a very brief appearance. Arthur Smith is also raving about Desmond Ridder's performance throughout camp so far, saying his decision making has been very good. From what I saw of the practices in Flowery Branch, Mack Hollins is looking good. KhaDarel Hodge and some of the second / third tier receivers have also stepped up and had their share of highlight moments. Ridder didn't get to play with Kyle Pitts last year (Pitts was on IR before Ridder became the starter) and Hollins and Scotty Miller are new to the roster. They're all still getting familiar with each other, getting their timing down, etc. But they are doing so pretty quickly. Ridder already played with Drake London, Hodge, and newly resigned TE MyCole Pruitt last year and at least practiced with the returning fringe candidates last season. That's a big factor in his accuracy - social media got all over him because he missed an early throw to Kyle Pitts at the start of training camp. Pitts wasn't in minicamp or OTAs, so at that point they had zero prior reps working together this offseason. And to be clear, Ridder still isn't 100% on the money every single time, but he's doing a hell of a lot better than most of the media outlets have been giving him credit for. The big question will be whether the line can keep him clean and give him a chance to find his top targets rather than forcing him to scramble and dump off to his outlets. Miami's pass rush will be a pretty good first test.
Atlanta is waiving 2020 fourth-round pick Mykal Walker. Walker confirmed the news with a post on social media. “I can’t thank the Atlanta Falcons enough been a hell of a 3 years,” Walker posted. “Allowed me to achieve my dreams, I’ve [met] brothers for life, and brought my son into this world. My journey is far from over excited for what comes next!” Walker has appeared in 49 games with 20 starts over the last three seasons. He recorded 107 total tackles for Atlanta last year with four tackles for loss, six passes defensed, and two interceptions. He also tallied his first career sack. Earlier on Sunday, the Falcons announced they were signing linebacker Frank Ginda, who was the USFL’s defensive player of the year. NBC
Yep, I was going to post this in a separate thread. Walker is the first significant casualty of training camp as far as player releases go. Releasing him this early is a professional courtesy, giving his agent a good headstart in finding him a new team. It's also a cap move, as the Proven Performance Escalator was to have kicked up his base salary this season. He was drafted in the fourth round in 2020 (a bit of a reach?) by Thomas Dimitroff specifically for the Dan Quinn / Raheem Morris defensive system. He thrived as a rookie in that system but ultimately lost his starting role in Dean Pees' defense last year. Now that the team has signed Kaden Elliss to join Troy Andersen, Walker would be off the field in nickel/dime packages and would be competing with the likes of Lorenzo Carter and others for playing time even in base formations. He was listed on the roster at ILB but spent more time working at OLB during the offseason program and training camp. One bit of irony is that the two opening day starters at LB last year in Atlanta's nickel package were Mykal Walker and Rashaan Evans. Now both are gone. Walker is up for grabs on waivers, and Evans remains an unsigned free agent. Frank Ginda spent a good chunk of 2018 on Miami's practice squad, then 2019 camp and preseason with the Saints. After that, it was the AAF, the XFL, and this year the USFL as the article noted. I say he's only competing for a practice squad spot, even though Walker's release opens a spot on the regular roster.
Bears have priority over most other teams. I'm guessing he would have been picked up by the Cowboys if he made it that far down the list.
Ridder is going to get some PT vs the Bengals this week and this is what HC Smith said... On Tuesday, Smith specifically talked about Ridder navigating the pocket to avoid hits, since that’s something teams can’t fully simulate in practice. “We’re not going to try to scheme up some chunk plays so we can feel good about some trick play or something that like for some hype video or whatever,” Smith said. “We need to execute, improve, take another step, get ready, feel the pocket so he’s ready to go Week One. That’s the thing you can’t see during practice — the consequence of holding the ball too long or you don’t move up, execute through your reads, all that stuff. Managing the offense. Those are the things. “Maybe I’m messed up but I don’t think between me and [Bengals head coach] Zac Taylor, we’re going to try to trick each other. We’re going to try to execute, come up with a good plan and see if we can improve and get ready for the season.”
The Falcons welcomed a new member of the defensive line to the roster on Wednesday morning. The team announced the signing of Delontae Scott. Scott fills the roster spot opened up by putting linebacker Ade Ogundeji on injured reserve. Scott spent time with the Packers, Steelers, and Panthers after going undrafted out of SMU in 2020. He spent some time on the active roster while with the Steelers and played 26 snaps on offense and special teams in three regular season appearances. Calais Campbell, Grady Jarrett, and David Onyemata appear set as the top defensive linemen in Atlanta. Third-round pick Zach Harrison, Ta’Quon Graham, and Justin Ellis are among the other candidates for reserve roles.
RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson will be out a couple of weeks and likely out for the rest of the preseason with a soft tissue injury, head coach Arthur Smith announced. CB Mike Hughes will be out a couple of weeks and likely out for the rest of the preseason with a soft tissue injury, Smith announced.
Minor injuries during the preseason are not bad. No real game time will be missed. You hate to have injuries but timing always works out better when you aren’t playing for real yet.
I'll be watching to see how much Justin Ellis and Joe Gaziano play - and when they play. In my view, they are competing with Timmy Horne (UDFA last year) and the more recent newcomers (Delontae Scott now joins Albert Huggins, Carlos Davis, and Kemoko Turay in the DL mix) for what might turn out to be just one total roster spot among the seven of them. Huggins and Horne cranked it up against Miami, so the competition is already shaping up to be pretty fierce.
The Falcons announced a signing on Thursday afternoon. They have signed offensive lineman Trevor Reid to their 90-man roster. They did not need to make a corresponding move because they placed Matt Hennessy on injured reserve earlier this week. Reid played left tackle at Louisville and appeared in 33 games over the last three seasons. He went undrafted in April and signed with the Eagles, but was waived by Philadelphia earlier this month. The Falcons are set to start Jake Matthews at left tackle and Kaleb McGary at right tackle. Joshua Miles, Jalen Mayfield, Tyler Vrabel, and Barry Wesley join Reid in vying for spots at tackle in Atlanta.
I'm thinking make way for Ryan Neuzil or Jovaughn Gwyn or Jonotthan Harrison. That is now going to be an intense competition. Never mind what the depth chart said or that Hennessy got the first team reps in the non-contact OTA sessions. That was all a load of crap. Bergeron was set to be the starter the moment the team handed in his draft card. It's simply tradition that you don't list the incoming rookie as the starter on day one. The depth chart for tomorrow's game has Bijan Robinson as third string, for example, with Patterson as the starter ahead of Allgeier. That's exactly the reverse order of reality, but Bijan is the rookie and CP is the veteran, so that's what the preseason chart shows. So the idea that Hennessy was the incumbent starter was totally bogus from the outset. Also bear in mind that he lost the starting center contest last year, and he was simply one of a handful of backups to play the left guard spot last season. He wasn't the incumbent anything. On the other hand, Hennessy was a lead pipe lock to be the active interior backup, as he has starting experience at both center and guard. With him on IR, who's going to be the #2 center? My guess is that Ryan Neuzil has the early edge, but we'll have to see the two remaining preseason games to let that sort out. Neuzil has two seasons of experience on the practice squad, moving from guard to center for the offseason program last year, and he did a great job leading the third string line throughout camp and preseason last year. Arthur Smith referred to the backup line as "Neuz' Crew" last year in camp. He got called up to the regular roster in midseason and was active in 9 games as a member of the field goal / extra point unit on special teams. The team put "center" on Gwyn's draft card when they selected him as one of their final two picks in this year's draft, but that's a projection - he was a guard in college. I'd say he would be hard pressed to win the active backup role, but moving Hennessy to IR improves his chances of making the regular roster as opposed to the practice squad. I wasn't particularly impressed with Harrison in the preseason games last year, but he did well enough in camp to stick on the practice squad and extend his career. I didn't pay all that much attention to him in the first preseason game this year, but I'll focus on him a lot more tomorrow night and next week. Plus side = he's the veteran of the group, with 84 game appearances including 42 starts. Flip side = no upside remaining at age 31, and he hasn't been good enough to get in a game in the last two seasons. This is probably his last grasp at making a roster.
It's really funny how one or two web sites and blogs seem to have it in for Jalen Mayfield. One source ripped him for allegedly getting demolished by Zach Harrison on a rep in practice. The catch is that it wasn't even Mayfield on the play - and the tweet referenced in that post even named the victim as Tyler Vrabel. I saw another blog rip him this week for presumably not playing well in the Miami game last week. I thought he did a great job, particularly with run blocking. Radio analyst (and former Falcons starting quarterback) David Archer thought so too. Joshua Miles played left tackle while Mayfield was in at RT. Miles got manhandled in giving up a sack. The tackles who came in after Mayfield also had their struggles. But Mayfield himself seemed to be getting it done. I want to see him on the left side before I declare him my choice for the swing tackle role, but right now I'd say his chances are pretty good - and his overall chances of making the roster are even better.
Falcons looking sloppy early against Cincinnati. LOTS of penalties. Two of them were ticky-tack, but they got called so we have to live with them. On the other side, Cincinnati got away with a pass interference that caused an interception. But for Atlanta, it's both offense and defense - holding, a couple of false starts, two defensive holding calls, and even a hold on special teams. Ugh.
Hopefully they get this out of their system and I think they will... discipline is very important, so maybe just a matter some more practice. I saw the Ridder play on the long drive and it did look to me at the time the Bengals DB clearly went over his back, but it was a long ball control drive anyway. They start taking the 1's out of this game and I lost some interest, so i got busy getting some last minute work done, so I didnt see much. I think the Falcons are up to 11 penalties so far as I type this... tis a bit much, lol.
