Breaking down the 2026 Atlanta Falcons roster | Falcons Audible Podcast

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How often this po uh preseason have we heard Kevin Stfansky in his interview saying, "We're still in training camp. We're still in training camp mode." How many times have we as players heard that, right? You figure, >> fellas, [snorts] you get past like the first two or three weeks and you're like, "Okay, maybe we can get into a little bit of routine. Maybe we can not use that word training camp anymore." And then the coach comes out and says, "We're still enjoying it mostly." [laughter] And you're like, "Oh gosh." Now, see, here's we're going to date ourselves here, folks. Because when we were playing, when coach said that, that was basically saying, "We putting the pads on, [laughter] okay? And we're going to go out there and hit a little bit more." Okay? The times have changed a little bit. We're aware of that. >> But that's what training camp mode always meant to me. That means like, "Hey, we're getting back out to the practice field and we gonna hit today." [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Look forward to them days. >> Yeah. Officially >> I didn't have [laughter] to do that. >> Officially means that now you are starting to get ready for regular season action. >> All right. And with that, we will dive into this podcast and we will start to tell you about our thoughts most importantly as us three have gotten together for the first time since the initial 53man roster has been announced. So fellas, I'm going to turn it over to you with our one of our favorite games that we play here. >> Yeah, baby. >> One of our favorite games. It's hard for this crew to pay attention. >> Shock, you get to go first. >> Yeah. >> Describe this initial 53man roster. In how many words, ladies and gentlemen? >> Three words. [laughter] >> Archer makes me laugh, man. He looks at me like, "Oh god, here comes shot." No. All right. I got balanced, athletic, and versatile. Do I need to expand or or are we good with that? >> Well, I mean, you could you can expand a little bit. You passed the test. Okay. You did. You got 100%. Because you know, we are sitting here waiting to jump to talk about [laughter] it. >> He wants to talk about >> Yeah. You can't just You can't give me the three and then pass the buck to Arch, right? So now you get to you get to expand a little bit. >> All right. So, so, so basically as I mean the athletic and versatile part I think speaks and everybody understands what that means and we know this roster has a lot of guys who can play a lot of different spots and all that kind of stuff. The balance part of it for me when I looked at the 53 man roster you see you have a a a mix of big veteran guys like a Jesse Bates or uh you know AJ Terrell or Darius Swift. You got all these veteran guys and then you got a mix of some of the younger guys. We talk about some of the first and second year guys, some of the rookie guys who going to have impact. Some of the second and third year guys you're expecting to take a bigger step. So I think you have a mix and a balance of veterans as well as younger guys who can add to this team. And you look at their roster, you say, you know what, okay, I like the mix of it. You like the talent of it. And this is a very athletic group. You can look at it from whatever facet you want, but I love the fact that you got a mix of a little bit of young and a little bit of old, which you usually do. Some teams sometimes are very young. Sometimes teams are very uh you know maybe veteranladen. And I think you have a mix of a little bit of both in this one which i.e. brings in my word of balance. >> Very nice. >> You tied that together pretty well. I appreciate the the the holding to the rules executing there. I appreciate your uh >> succinct explanation. No doubt >> you're you're you're off to a great start today. >> I appreciate that. Thanks. >> All right, Arch, your turn. Three words. initial. I got I got A COUPLE OF THEM >> NOW. [laughter] Now look at the tide is turning, baby. >> You on another foot. >> I'm going to I'm going to say I'm going to go with something that we've been talking about >> that Ian Cunningham talked about. Raise the floor. >> Yeah. >> Um I think when you look at this roster, the versatility of some of the guys, maybe even guys that are masters of a certain thing and can do something else, I think you did that. I you know so I I expanded before you allowed me to expand but raise the floor is where I would go I think because it was what Ian Cunningham had talked about doing >> in we know it's a battle of attrition in this game >> uh we've all been banged up before and had to play through it and then maybe not able to play the next week whatever >> does that next guy that steps in do we is all of a sudden that is that a weak link and I think they've done a really good job of raising the floor to where that's not going to be the case. Yes, I agree with you. I agree with you so much >> as well. Uh >> oh. Uh >> oh. >> You want to know what my original one was? >> Talk to me. >> My original one. Let me just slide it across the table just so you know. I I didn't make things up. >> Oo. Floor was raised. >> So in the broadcasting industry, [laughter] >> in the broadcasting industry, sometimes you got to be able to think on your feet and you got to [laughter] pivot. >> So guess what? I'm gonna give you three different words just so I don't do exactly what >> the pivot foot though. Come on. Keep the pivot foot. >> Yeah. Don't want to travel. No traveling up in here. I'm gonna go simply locked and loaded. >> Okay. Now, you got to you got to be quick, right? Because when I was going to go floor was raised, I looked like a copycat and it's like, well, he just said the same thing that Arch did. But locked and loaded. And I agree with Arch that the floor was raised because I'm excited about a few position groups. To me, wide receiver is the one that I'm the most excited about. I think you bring in experience and you bring in youth talent that is an element in Zachariah Branch that I don't think we've had in a long time coupled with the leadership and just the sheer mismatch of Drake London on the outside. So, I'm excited for that. I'm excited for the depth at the defensive back position. I think if everybody stays healthy, there's a lot of really good options for guys that can cover, that can steal the football, and that can lay the wood when they're coming into tackle. Okay. I think that that defensive back group is exciting. The only the one that I think is going to have to take some time to meld together is the linebacking group, right? I think you've got veteran leadership in Divine Diablo. You've got some really talented young rookies that are probably going to factor into the mix. You got a couple of journeyman rece uh um linebackers that are going to they're going to try to bring the experience, stabilize the position. And the biggest question mark is what are we going to do from Kaden Ellis departing, right? That was a big shoes that you're going to have to fill. And I think that's one we're still going to end up seeing it play out as we get into this regular season. But locked and loaded, floor was raised, and your three was what? Balanced, athletic, >> versatile. >> Aha. Yes, sir. [laughter] >> Give us three words that you got when you saw when you saw the initial 53man roster or the last couple of moves that we've seen over the last 48 hours. What were your three words? Can't give us six. You can't give us two. >> Yeah, man. We don't do that, right? Three words. you give exact numbers >> because if you give us two or you give us six, you get clown. You know what I'm saying? That's just how it works on the Falcons off. [laughter] All right, >> don't do that. >> Now, switching gears, fellas. Speaking of the initial 53man roster, I've got two former quarterbacks sitting here on the set and the Atlanta Falcons have four quarterbacks currently on the roster. So Shock, I go back to you and I say, what are the advantages that are afforded to Atlanta as you start the season with these four quarterbacks that we got a chance to see? Three of them in the preseason and some of them put out some really impressive things that these this coaching staff felt like we going to need to hold on to some of these for a little while longer. >> I think that's what makes it fun. And I think that's what makes it interesting is you started this camp, you started his off season with a collection of guys that you felt, okay, these guys could fit what we want to do. And then you get into the preseason and I know Michael Penn didn't play, but he still had opportunity to showcase what he can do in practice. And obviously feel really good about that because of where he stands right now. But then you got three other guys who you say, you know what, man, once you put them out there, these dudes fit what we like to do. These guys do, they play well. Uh we saw Cooper Rush and Jack Strand, you know, play really well during the preseason. You saw Tua do some really good things uh in camp. You saw him do some really good things in that last preseason game, putting together a couple drive, distributing the football, doing some things that you like to see from a guy that you expect to possibly be your starter. And now you look around and say, you know what, Jack Strand, is that a guy we feel like if he was put on the practice squad, would he be still here? Probably not. That tells you he played well enough in the preseason that he has tremendous value. Cooper Rush came in here on the first day of training camp and was asked to learn a whole new system and terminology and he excelled throughout preseason as well and he brings a veteran leadership, brings a veteran presence to that room as well. Then you got two guys in Tua and Penn. Both guys played in this league. Both guys have uh done some really good things. You you're really excited about them. Obviously Michael Penn just last week was cleared to go through 1111. So, you're still working through that process with him to get fully cleared and healthy back to go. Uh, and then Tua obviously a guy who you brought in here uh because of what he's already done in his past and also what you feel he fits in the scheme. So, you got four guys you really like. You got four guys who you feel like get can give you a chance to go win ball games. So, it's a it's a it's an interesting dynamic to have four guys because most teams usually keep two, maybe a third on practice squad, but you got four quality value guys that you feel really good about. And I know the one thing Coach Defansky always talks about is they're going to take this process dayto day. And that's all you can do in this process, especially with the QBs with the amount of reps you can get going against uh the time is >> you got to take it dayto day. And that's what they're doing right now. Making sure when they line up against Pittsburgh, they have the best guy. And right now, you got four guys who you actually feel good about. >> Shock, I'm going to give you an awkward bro comment. All right, you ready for this? Talk to me. >> You made a comment a minute ago about Cooper Rush getting here like right as training camp started. And you said that comment during the game the other night, which made me think your jacket on the game the other night was sharp. >> That jacket was sharp. >> Well, you know what, man? I I I I asked a good friend of mine and Dave Archer, could I borrow a suit? And he said, "You know what? I have something for you and especially for this last one, go put it on." So I say, "I appreciate it." So Arch said, you know, here you go. I put it on. So I appreciate the acknowledgement. >> It was It was It was draft day material. [laughter] >> It wasn't he wearing a draft day. The only thing he didn't have is the big bling with the big G on it from Georgia. The big the big chain that just said shock >> DJ for real. [laughter] >> Big bulldog hanging off of him. No, he looked good, man. He looked very good. >> So, anyway, if you watch the game, >> he went double breasted, by the way. That was old school double breasted sharp, man. Let me tell you. Um, okay, Arch, I'm going to give you the same opportunity here um to talk about the >> situation of holding four quarterbacks and your kind of thoughts as you as you saw the information, what were coming to the first few things that were going through your mind? Well, I think that the first thing you think of as a fan of the team, um, you know that Kevin Stfansky is trying to put you in the best position to win games. And we know that there's a little bit of history with with the two guys that are at the top of the hierarchy there with Tua and Michael that they've struggled with with some injuries from time to time. Michael's still coming back from his and so you want to protect yourself and make sure that you're as solid at that position as you can possibly be. Jack Strand came in here and took the world by storm. I mean, who knew that a guy from a division two school would come in and play with that kind of poise? Remember when when training camp opened, Michael and Tu and Neil one were available on the first couple of days of training camp. Who took the snaps? Jack Strand, a guy completely, you know, just rolled in here. Biggest crowd he'd ever played in front of was 6,800 people. You know, next thing you know, he's the guy running the show with all the starters. So, and then Cooper Rush, as you mentioned, Shock, for him to show up on the first day of practice after what happened uh in the quarterback room, um for him to adapt, here's his numbers the last two preseason games, guys. Uh 24 of 30, >> that's pretty efficient and pretty solid from a quarterback. It is from a quarterback. And I think Cooper Rush earned the right to be here and he actually showed the staff how quickly he absorbed the offense and how quickly he could be efficient and move the football with the offense and I think you saw that in the last two preseason games. So um all all four guys deserve to be here. Um, a lot of teams will hone it down and that may still happen, but I think what what Kevin Stfansky and the staff have done of you, they've protected you at the quarterback position, whatever this scenario may play out and there'll be a lot of conversation about over the next couple weeks until we get to Pittsburgh as to who might be on the field first and all that kind of stuff, but rest assured that you got four guys that I think you could plug in and feel pretty good about. You know guys, not only did we see the initial 53man roster, that also meant the announcement of the practice squad. And and we continue to say initial because there will be fluid moves that not only happen throughout the next week, week and a half, but there's going to be moves that happen throughout the course of the season due to injuries, due to lack of availability, whatever the case may be. Um, but the one thing that I wanted to ask you both about real quickly was another guy that I thought had a really good preseason with Tyler Goodson and I saw his name pop up as initially waved and I thought to myself, there's a chance that he gets scooped up by somebody else quickly because of what he did in the preseason. Fortunately for Atlanta, he did not. He gets resigned back to the practice squad, but we know how that works. That's so easy to just be elevated on game day nowadays with the practice squad elevation. So, Shock, initial thoughts on Tyler Goodson still being a member for the Atlanta Falcons and the rest of the practice squad as you kind of saw it assembled. >> I love it. I I love that he's back. I love that um he wanted to be back cuz he probably had opportunities to take his talents elsewhere, but I thought what he did during this preseason, during this camp, I talked to him probably a week or two in before even preseason game started and he was so hungry and locked in and he told me point blank, I'm going to go ball. He said [laughter] that. Those were his exact words. I'm going to go ball. And obviously he's a a homegrown kid. North Gett High School played here in the state, was a really good player. Georgia State played all that kind of stuff. And to see him go out and not just run the football with intensity, run the football with some toughness. Uh he made a play in the last ball game, throw him a wheel rod down the sideline, catches it, spins on a guy, and still continues to run. Just tells you he adds a lot of value to that running back room. and I'm glad he's able to come back and be a part of this team. And like you mentioned, uh there's probably a really good chance um you know, [snorts] come uh week one he could be probably on that that that roster to uh go to Pittsburgh. So it'd be fun to see that. But when I look at the rest of that practice squad roster, I look at I mean maybe I think it's 13 out of maybe 16 guys, whatever it may be, are guys that were on this roster throughout the offseason through training camp. And it tells you this staff, this coaching staff, GM and Cunningham, President Matt Ryan, all those guys went out and they saw guys that they knew would fit what they like to do here. And then not only it's a thing where you can say it, but then you go out and they show it. And then watching those guys go through preseason tells you they love what they saw in those guys and you really excelled when you went out and get got some of these guys. So I'm excited to have, you know, some of these guys back like a Cash Jones who played really well in the preseason. We saw Jack Veling. We talked about the tight ends last week about how good they were. Uh they were really good on special teams. Uh you know, guys like Cam Dubberry playing offensive line. Uh Carlos Allen Jr. and other guy. I mean it was so many guys you look at and say, "Man, these guys really fit the mold." And we heard coach Defansky say after the game, I want to keep them all. And that tells you that he really enjoyed coaching this group of players and he got a chance to keep a lot of these guys on the practice squad. And you know what you have in those guys if you need to bring them up. So, uh, I love the fact that you were able to get a lot of those core guys back that you really talk good about and worked hard throughout the offseason to get to this point and now they are part of this organization. And if you need them, guess what? They're they're ready for you. Arch, I was I mean I go back to when the NFL and and NFL PA decided to make this decision to expand the practice squad rosters. I think it was a great idea because when we were playing it was seven like you had seven guys and I actually thought that that was like what's the purpose likeough you can't it's not like you can field a whole lot of extra in practice with just seven but with 16 not only can you do a lot more things in practice if you are trying to give some of your veterans a break you've got the numbers to do it but now you've got more options of guys that can be elevated on game day and in shocking or he ended up highlighting some of the guys Darnie Holmes is another one that is going to end up staying around. Arch, when you looked at the practice squad, what were some of your initial thoughts as far as yes, these are a lot of guys that were in camp, but their potential to get better within this system and potentially get on the field on Sundays? >> Well, the biggest thing that comes to my mind is that all these guys had opportunities to go someplace else. And um and don't think that they weren't fielding calls. Their agents all were talking to teams around the league. You got guys that start out. You guys talked about some of the guys that really really lit it up in the preseason, whether it's Tyler Goodson or Darnie Holmes. I thought the two Kite I thought the two tight ends, you could you could make a case for Nick Muse and Jacking uh being an opportunity to go someplace else. >> Um even a guy like um Cam Deubberry, who I thought did an outstanding job in that backup guard position. Um he showed the ability as a young player to be somebody you could develop and move on. These guys all probably fielded other opportunities, but it tells you about the connection that they had with the coaching staff here and what they're trying to build here for all these guys to, you know, as you guys talked about, virtually every one of these guys were guys that you wanted to come back. I think we got a couple of different guys potentially that weren't on the on the the the 90man roster or whatever that was in training camp. So, I think the connection with the staff, um, the connection of what's going on here, I think it it to me that's what it tells me. I want to be a part of that. Um, I could have gone to one of the 31 other teams, but I want to be a part of what's going on in Atlanta. Um, so that was the first thing that jumped off me. I mean, obviously, you can talk about the guys. I think Vinnie I thought Vinnie Anthony had a really good training camp. the young wide receiver. I think he's got I think he's got upside both as a return guy and a guy that can catch the ball on the outside, make plays with the ball in his hands. Um you're talking about a couple offensive linemen we talk about Dubberry, Malman, Brocker Meer. Those guys could potentially be the air appearance to Jobs up front as we get a little longer in the tooth down the road a few years. And you guys know what I think about Carlos Allen. talked about Carlos Allen, local product, Douglas High School. Um, he's a kid that looks a lot like another local dude that had a very small small in height but looked like a fire hydrant when you were trying to try to move him off the ball in Grady Jarrett. So, there's a there's a lot of fun stuff to like about this. Cam Sample, another local guy um that that was ecstatic about being here. Cam Sample made three consecutive plays in the game against Miami. He had a sack, a tackle for loss, and he fell off into coverage on that edge spot and knocked the ball down in in in pass coverage. I mean, my goodness, here's here I'm going to autograph that series. That's why I want to be on the team. That's why I need to be on the team. And fortunately, they were able to get Cam Sample back as well. >> Yeah. Um, and there was a few other moves that were made in the last 24 hours. As we mentioned that this is a fluid roster. Josh Woods, who initially started on the practice squad, has since been elevated to the active roster because JD Bertran ended up going on injured reserve. And then there was three players that were claimed off of waivers. A couple of linebackers and Yir Abdullah and Jared Ivy. And then tackle Cameron Williams also joining the team. And to make room for them, they ended up waving Jamie Robinson, Natron Brooks, and Zack Harrison. So, these are some of the moves that continue to get be made by this coaching staff, this front office, and president of football because they're constantly moving pieces around to try to figure out, and we've said it so many times, what gives us the best chance to win football games on Sundays to give us the best depth to continue to raise the floor in our backup. So, those were some of the moves that we saw made recently. All right, guys. I'm going to throw you out kind of more of a softball 30,000 ft question here. shock now that we are officially done with the entire 2026 off season. Okay, when you think about going back to signing restricted free agents in the combine, free agency, draft, OTAAS, mini camps, training camp, and now here we are, call it a week and a half from when we tape this podcast from the open of the regular season. What is kind of your expectations from this Falcons team? I know it's really easy to say, well, we want to win the division. We got to get to the postseason. If you're looking at this, I want you to put a coach hat or a front office hat on right now. Shock, what are your expectations now that you've seen initially the players that are going to go out on the field to try to win games? >> You know what the the thing that comes to mind for me is this is a hungry group. This is a group that uh they've heard some of the the outside noise and it's hard to say you don't hear the stuff about, hey, this is where this team is going to be this season from the outside perspective. And you got a lot of guys who are looking to maybe rejuvenate their career. You got a lot of guys who are looking to prove naysayers wrong. And you come into this season with a lot of guys with experience, but a lot of guys who say, "You know what? Here's a new staff. Here's a new personnel group. Here's a new here's a new uh front office staff that believed in me and wanted me to come here and be a part of what they're building in year one." And I think when you look at the overall picture, this is a group that wants to go out and showcase that they are one of the best teams in the National Football League, let alone, let's say, what happens in the NFC South. Now, we know that that is priority number one, but this is a group I think you have a lot of guys, and we've talked about it. You got a lot of guys who are on one-year deals. You got a lot of guys who are uh filling the voids of other spots within this team. There are a lot of guys who have different versatilities when it comes to this this this group on either side of the ball. You say, you know what, I got a chance to go out and put some good things on tape. I got a good thing. I got a chance to go out and showcase why they brought me here. And I think this is a hungry team that's so eager to go and show that they belong. And you look at the schedule, you say, you know what, you got some early prime time games to go do that. And there are a lot of people who want to see what this team is all about. So, I'm excited to see where you end up, where you go, but I feel like there's so many guys who are just hungry and eager to get this thing kicked off and ready to go play some ball. >> You know what I thought about Shock when you were talking about players that were hungry. It started to make me think, Arch, Matt Ryan leaves his national broadcasting job to come back to the organization that he led and is the best player to ever wear a Falcons [snorts] jersey. You've got Kevin Stfansky looking to turn the page to the last couple years in Cleveland. That did not go the way that he wanted as a head coach. Yet Ian Cunningham getting an opportunity to be a general manager for the first time. Him wanting to start this off on a positive note to show everybody that he was ready for this opportunity. But most importantly that I started to think about Arch was Arthur Blank. He's been here longer than anybody else and he is as competitive as we've seen from an owner and he is hungry. Right, Arch? Like he is hungry to get back. He saw the postseason when Matt Ryan was at his best. He saw the Super Bowl. He wants to get back there. That's what every team in this National Football League is about. So, all of those guys have high expectations. What's your expectation for this team? >> Yeah, I think that I I would be in a similar camp. uh rack when you start thinking about what they could be. I I'm I'm kind of boil it down to maybe a little bit more grassroots in obviously the Hunter and all those guys you just mentioned wanting to go get him a a championship season or at least a run to take a look at a championship season. I'm going to give you I'm going to I'm going to boil it even more down. We made a trade for Javon Dexter. Okay. Um Clark Phillips, one of the guys we love. Great, great attitude, great guy, good corner, but Javon Dexter comes in here at 6'6, 325 lbs. I just thought that was a that was a double down. >> Okay, you bring a 6'6, 325lb defensive tackle in here to couple with Mason Smith at 6'5, 310 on the interior. >> Let's go ahead and throw the outside. Let's let's slide Brandon Doris now outside with the twitchy abilities that he has with the inside eight and a half sacks. Now slide him outside where he's going one-on-one with a tackle and his ability to run at 6'4 295 lbs. And then oh by the way Zidarius Smith who you just signed who has some prow coming off the edge at 6'4 270 or Cam Thomas at 6'4 265 the the size you just changed your defensive front. Remember Doris was playing like a three technique and probably unders sized in there working against 320 lb offensive guard. you just just double down on the size up front and I just think of Jeff Olrich, another one of those guys like you're talking about that's a hunter, wants to win. Um, talked about defensive line and how we needed to we needed to swell up there a little bit and be better on that interior. I I think that that was an incredible move by Ian Cuttingham and his group to go get a guy like like Dexter who started essentially if you count the two pre two postseason games for Chicago last year has started 36 of the last 38 games in in his career. Um a young guy he's going to only he'd be 25 at the beginning of October. Young player that you that could be you know one of those guys that ends up here for a long time. So, um, yeah, that you could I got chills down going down my back thinking about the size up front and what you could potentially be on both sides of the bar. >> The, uh, the one thing that came to mind, um, about the things you just mentioned was when GM and Cuttingham first got here and they asked him what kind of team he wants to field. And he said, you know, all the things that that he learned over the years where he had been in different places and he said, the number one thing is we going to build through the trenches. He said that those are actions. He said that's what we're going to do. But then he goes out and he's building through the trenches. We just talked about the practice squad guys and we named three or four linemen on that group. We talked about how deep you can be on the offensive line. And then you talk about all those dudes up front on the defensive line. So I love the fact that you have a GM, you have a staff that said, "Here's our plan. here's what we want to do and how often do we hear the talk about this is what we want to look like but then here is the action behind it. So you see the talk, you see the action now you're taking it to the field. They're doing everything that they're saying already. So it's fun to see all these things kind of come to fruition about how you want to raise the floor. Done that. How you want to build through the trenches. How you want to have guys with great character versatility. You want to have the best competition in camp. They had that had a bunch of guys Kaspansky wanted to keep. All these things that they said they're doing now you got to take to the field and show it. That's why I say a lot of guys are hungry in these moments because they know the type of guys they wanted to have in this building. >> Well, and Shock just said the most important next step. Okay. Ian Cunningham and Matt Ryan and all these guys and even Kevin Stfansky and his staff are going to try to put these guys in positions to go win offensively, defensively, special teams. Now >> it's up to us as players. That's it. >> You're given an opportunity. You're presented an opportunity to be on a on a National Football League team >> and and they trust you enough to to bring you in and do this. Now, go make it happen. >> Yeah. >> You mentioned build through the trenches. My final comment is going to be this. I uh spent six of my years here for the Falcons and two with the Seahawks. So, I still kind of keep a little tiny part of my eye looking at Seattle. And the only reason why I pull that up is I say that is the other day I saw they put on social media their initial 53man roster. And when you just said something a moment ago about building through the trenches, it made me think about Seattle Super Bowl champion from last year. And I know that we talked a little bit about it. Where were they really strong last year? >> The defensive line. They had a bunch of freaking dudes that got after offensive line and after quarterbacks. And so, yeah, you're not trying to say we want to look like Seattle, but Ian Cunningham, a former lineman himself, is saying if you want to win in this league, you better be able to win at the line of scrimmage. You better be tough in the trenches. So, I think it's a great comment that you make, Shock. And my last comment is going to be this. We talked about on this show, on this podcast, when Jeff came here, he's his motto was going to be heart, mind, fist, and I saw Divine Diablo was talking the other day during a game and he mentioned heart mind fist. Maybe that's the model of the defense. Maybe the model for our podcast should be hungry. Stay hungry for this next 2026 season. Take every play like it's your last every game, every quarter, you name it, and stay hungry the whole time. So folks, that's going to do it for our initial 53man roster discussion. That's going to do it for our pre-season discussion because when we come back next week, >> game week, baby, >> it's game week, y'all. >> Game week. >> That means we talking about Steelers. >> We talking about regular season. We're talking about how do you start one and0 in the win loss column because as we know you only get 17 opportunities and all of them are so vitally important. So thanks so much for joining us on [music] whichever platform that you end up watching us uh on this podcast and continue to like follow subscribe [music] all those good things and pay attention to all of the different content that we're going to be pushing out cuz guess what? It's going to be even more as we get [music] ready Yes sir. >> regular season. >> Yes sir. Let's go. >> Thanks so much for joining us everybody. As I said, we'll be back next week. The preview week one of the NFL season is right around the corner. Thank goodness. [music] I know everybody's out there with their fantasy football teams and ready for actual action on the field. For DJ Shockley, Dave Archer, I'm Dererick Rockley. Thanks so much for joining us. [music] This has been the Falcons Audible presented by AT&T.