There was a first-day-of-school feeling at Flowery Branch today as the Atlanta Falcons kicked off training camp with a, perhaps surprisingly, sharp day of practice. Despite to new quarterbacks atop the depth chart, the ball was not hitting the ground. And while the full pads aren’t on yet, Head Coach Arthur Smith looked pleased afterward and told media he was happy with the lack of mental errors and the ability of Marcus Mariota and rookie Desmond Ridder to get the plays executed properly.
It may seem like small potatoes, but every team starts somewhere.
Here are some more quick hits and observations from the first day of Falcons camp.
Offensive Line Battles
The position group with the biggest and harshest spotlight on it is going to be the offensive line. Last year, the unit was among the worst in the league in pass protection (ranked 29th by Pro Football Focus) and three of its spots graded out at 53.3 percent or lower at protecting the quarterback. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Arthur Smith told media that those starting positions are “up for grabs” this training camp.
Smith made sure to note that he will be “fair” in the playing time that is doled out to all who are competing for those spots. The only minor surprise was Drew Dalman working with the first-team group at center, with Jake Mathews and Jalen Mayfield to his left and Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary to his right. The embattled McGary is expected to duke it out this camp with Germain Ifedi. Matt Hennessy, last year’s starting center, will be in the mix to return to his starting center position, and could even see Dalman lined up to his left so the Falcons staff can see how that looks compared to Mayfield.
No matter how the offensive line is assembled on a given day, expect plenty of chopping and changing day-to-day so that the players most in need of reps will get them.
The Perfect Quarterback Tandem?
The jury is still out on how productive Marcus Mariota will be at the Falcons lead signal caller. Mariota noted his comfort in returning to the familiar system of Arthur Smith under which he learned playing for the Tennessee Titans. But the Falcons offense is young at receiver and shaky on the offensive line, a ripe combination for some error prone moments.
But if there were any questions as to how Mariota would approach the situation he finds himself in – one with a touted rookie quarterback in Desmond Ridder lurking right behind him – he answered any questions about his leadership and mentoring of his quarterback partner Wednesday.
“I learned a long time ago to leave my ego at the door. I try to help wherever I can, even if it is Desmond, it's Drake [London],” Mariota said from the podium. “I just try to do and give all that I can. I've been in so many different scenarios in my career. I've been a starter, I've been benched, I've been a backup, I've been hurt, I've been all these different things. Being able to take those experiences and try to help wherever I can will make our team better. That's what I'm focused on. I try to help wherever I can.”
As for Ridder, he’s taking the moment in the exact stride any Falcons fan would hope.
"Marcus has been in coach Smith’s system before," Ridder told media, "so he knows a lot more. I am really trying to learn from him, and learn about how he goes about learning the game plan and learning how we do things each and every week."
Deion Jones Status
Longtime Falcons linebacker Deion Jones, who has been heavily rumored to be leaving the team at some point this training camp through a trade or cut, was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list by the Falcons last week after having offseason shoulder surgery. He is eligible to come off the list and practice at any point, but Arthur Smith indicated it will be roughly a week before there’s an accurate timeline on when that might happen.