Previewing Falcons-Colts joint practices | Falcons Audible Podcast

At The Home Depot, we make it easy to turn your to-do list into a [music] done list with our speedy delivery options. Need something in a hurry? We offer next-day and even same-day delivery on a wide variety of products. The best part is you can order straight from your couch. Our team is ready to help and get your order to you same day if it's placed by 4:00 p.m. on select products. When shopping online, filter by delivery to see availability options. Delivery at the speed you need, [music] only at The Home Depot. >> We have been told that we are the big boys in town. >> He Yeah, he's into I'm telling you he is like lit. >> He about to start preaching. >> Let everybody say amen. >> Yeah, you got to keep getting chills a little bit thinking about what these two guys can do. >> This is the Falcons Audible presented by AT&T. [music] Your crew's back together. That's DJ Shockley. That's Dave Archer. I'm Derek Rackley. And [music] yes, we are back and fellas, I have a quick little story. Okay? >> Uh-oh. >> We were all at the game on Friday. >> And I [music] was doing it solo as I do during preseason because he goes up and does the TV stuff, you know, what I'm saying? >> Big weekend. >> And [laughter] I'm just sitting there and I got my headphones on, right? And I'm watching the game. So, I'm at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday, okay? I'm just kind of setting the scene, right? So, this guy comes over to me and he says, "Where were you at last week?" And so, I start thinking to myself, I was like, "We're at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. What happened here last week?" >> [laughter] >> And then I'm starting to think. I was like, "Is he talking about joint practice or something?" And I looked at him and I was like, "What what do you mean?" He goes, "You know, Shock, the podcast. WHERE WERE YOU AT LAST WEEK?" AND I WAS LIKE, "OH, OKAY." I WAS LIKE, "I APPRECIATE SO, the gentleman that came up to me at the game the other day, I appreciate you tuning in and recognize that I wasn't there." I felt I felt like honored. >> [laughter] >> But I also I'm happy and proud that we've got our Falcons fans all over the place that are watching the podcast. So, again, thanks for watching. Um but he was like, "Yeah, where were you last week, man?" >> What's up with that, bro? What's going [laughter] on, man? Taking time off. >> All right. So, speaking of the first preseason game, Atlanta Falcons fall to the Denver Broncos 27-7. As I mentioned, we were all in the house, so it's chance for us to break it down. And gentlemen, it was not necessarily the most encouraging first preseason match-up, but Arch, this is a process. We've all been through this, right? Preseason For the For those folks that don't really know what it's like, preseason is like you practice, you install, you go play a game. There's no game planning, there's no we're going to see this defense, there's no really we're going to face these two players that do this. It's just you go out and you execute the plays that you've put in during training camp. And quite frankly, that's it, right? There's no game planning, scheming, or anything that goes on. So, Arch, kind of break down what you saw, some of the struggles a little bit, and where do you think the team goes from here as they go to preseason week two? >> Well, if I'm a fan at home and I just listened to what you said, Rack, they're going to say, "Well, isn't that the same thing that Denver just went through for 2 weeks? That we go out and we do the process." The difference being is Denver's operation is intact. Okay, you've got a new head football coach, you got a new staff on the offensive side of the football here in Atlanta. There's a blending of some talent in key roles, and and one being the quarterback position, where that's being blended in, too. Um I asked Tua postgame about, you know, at what point he he was frustrated. Obviously, he made a mistake in the game, dropped the snap in the second play of the game, and that resulted in a three-and-out. They weren't able to get out of get anything going to start off with. He was frustrated with his performance, and asked him about inserting himself maybe as a vocal leader, not just as a physical leader, showing what you can do, you know, leading by example, so to speak. He says, "Yeah, that's still something we're still trying to feel feel out." So, there's another layer to this thing as far as do you jump guys rears on the sideline? Do you get after people verbally to try to encourage them to turn it up physically cuz I know that's something that some of the fans have been a little frustrated with. There weren't anybody mad enough on the sideline. I think there's still some feeling out. Remember, we're still what? Four weeks away from playing Pittsburgh. And so, there's still a growing process that this team is going through. The schematics, X's and O's. What Rack talked about is we didn't game plan for Denver. That was a good football team. That's a team that's going to be in the mix in the AFC probably this year to go win the thing. Um and so, they've got a an entrenched kind of idea what they're doing. We don't. We're still trying to feel that out, trying to get guys in the right places. Right tackle is a situation where you're still trying to figure that out. So, there's a lot of things being trying to you're trying to figure out as well as blending personalities and trying to think for one another and those kind of things. So, it as Schract has said, it's a it's a process that you're going through. And it was a painful process on Friday night. I think both all of us would agree that is not what you were looking for in an opening day game. Certainly from a fan's perspective, I'm thinking, "Wow, I wanted to get something that was going to make me feel real warm and fuzzy about the season and you didn't get that." There were some really good individual performances that we can touch on here in the podcast today, but in all actuality, it was a kind of a punch in the face, but sometimes getting punched in the face is the best thing that could happen to you. You wait you say, "Well, man, we're not where we need to be. We're not where we wanted to be." And so, let's double down and go back to work. >> Yeah, a little bit of a wake-up call. So, Schract, here's one thing and and this is kind of the ultimate optimist thing, but this is this is the true reality is one of the best things and this is going to sound a little bit weird go with me here on this that came out of this preseason game was the tape. >> Yeah. >> And I bet you the coaching staff could not wait to get back and look at the tape because a lot of times as you as we know sometimes the tape doesn't look as bad as the performance felt during the game. Sometimes it does. Sometimes you end up finding certain players or performances where they were exactly where they were supposed to be and you're like gosh things didn't look good on offense but like this guy right here he was on it all night long or the flip side shock is you see somebody that maybe you was having a great camp and they go out in the game and they get exposed and it brings reason to be concerned but all of that gets revealed on the tape and it allows them to continue to start like formulating opinions on who's going to be on this team, where do they need to make adjustments and how do they get better for week two. >> Now don't get me wrong. When you turn on the tape you want things to look good. You you don't want everything to be we got to work on this, we got to work on that. You want to make some plays, you want to see some stuff that all right this is some of the stuff we saw over the first two weeks of training camp that give us some positivity heading forward. But then like you mentioned there's also the things on tape that you say you know what this is great. This is something that we can look back on and say hey look remember we talked about this maybe four or five days ago when we talked about maybe it showing up in the ball game and sometimes you say you turn on the tape and maybe it was just a false step. Maybe that one false step caused you to maybe get beat around the edge or maybe you didn't get vertical enough on your your route and that's why you came out flat on it. There's so many small nuances that when you turn on the tape you say you know what it's not as bad. It's one minor thing here and there that we we're kind of glad it happened now as opposed to happening week one or heading into that that that first game. So, I I think there's always a lot of great things you can learn from when things are not so good. And sometimes you go into camp and you go through first couple weeks, you feeling really good about things that's going on, you feel you know, got into a groove and you kind of I don't say you get complacent, but you get to a a point where you like, you know what? I know how to get through practice. I know how to get through this install. And then you get into a game and then you got another defender in front of you or you got another situation in front of you and it's not exactly what you thought it was. So, I think going through these struggles or adversities in games gives you an opportunity to go back and say, you know what? All right, I'm glad we got another couple weeks of preseason to work these things out because these are some of the things that's going to show up in the regular season. So, yeah, there's some guys you look on tape and say, you know what? This guy looks exactly what we thought he was going to be when he did what he did in training camp. Then there's a couple guys you say, you know what? We saw some of these things and now you can see it on tape in game so that we not just lying about this. This is stuff you see. So, I love the fact that you have things that you can look back on and say, it's clear as day here. Look at the tape. The tape shows you exactly what you need to know to get better. So, it's all about finding those small things within uh a game or the preseason game that that allows you to look back and say, yeah, there's more work to be done. >> Arch, I mentioned this at the at halftime and and maybe it's just because it's been drilled into my head so many times through college and my days in the NFL was the frustrating part was some of the basics is what got messed up. As you alluded to, to a drop in the snap. What does that do? That drops you behind the chains right from the jump. False start penalties, behind the chains. How difficult is it just to convert when you stay on schedule on third down in the NFL? Nonetheless to start it at second and 15 or first and 15 and then obviously the turnovers, arched. Like, you can't turn the football over in the National Football League and expect to win. Like, the statistics are are vastly against you when you lose the turnover margin. So, from a a player that's been there or a coaching staff, those are the things that like we can control ball security to an extent. Interceptions are going to happen. You obviously want to limit them, but playing disciplined, knowing the snap count, not jumping, and not making those mental errors is how you become a good football team. >> Yeah, you're all you're touching on, Rack, is control what you can control. There are going to be a lot of variables within a game. That team has got their ideas of how they're going to be conflictive to what you're going to try to do. So, how do you you you're going to have to adjust on the fly to some of that. But, I can determine when I come off the ball. I can determine whether I jump offside. I can determine whether my route is a certain way. Um and so, control the the controllables and then try to minimize the damage on the stuff that you can't see. But, I the the interceptions, turnovers, I think that Kevin talked about this postgame. I was fortunate to be in the locker room postgame. He said, "Hey, one of the first things he pointed out, we were minus one in the what giveaway takeaway." Um the two interceptions netted 14 points. They got a a return for a touchdown, and then they got a short field opportunity. I think they took over at the plus 48-yard line, and they punched that in. And so, a short fuse usually in the NFL short field opportunities, one first down, you're in field goal range, you get a couple first downs, you probably punch one in. And they were able to punch that in. So, 14 points came off of those turnovers. When you begin to look at the game, and changed the complexion of the game. Even when you're down 17-nothing, and you're moving the football in that really good drive that that Cooper Rush and the offense were able to put together, you get the tip pass returned for a touchdown. Instead of being 17-7 or 17-3, now it's 24-nothing. That's how quickly things can flip around, and quickly your balloon can get punctured. So, to your point Rack, control what you can control I I want to ask you this Shoc. We played the position and and ball tip balls are a part of the game for quarterbacks. A lot of times we're trying to find arm slots and angles to try to throw around guys cuz defensive linemen are taught if they get stopped in their pass rush elevate the arms. You know, try to disrupt in the from that regard. Cooper Rush to my count >> It was four or five. >> had I think seven passes tipped. >> was a lot. >> It and one one of them was the deflection that he tried to throw the stick right down in the red zone. He didn't get it out quite in time or his eyes went to it too quickly. The linebacker was able to flow tip it and it was picked and taken back for a touchdown. Um but counting that, I think I had it's either six or seven tipped balls. >> Yeah. >> The first interception is a tipped ball. It's batted at the line of scrimmage, goes behind I think Drummond who's running a deep curl route. It hits the hits the corner right in the Those are some of those things that are are maddening to a quarterback because you are getting a little bit of pressure in your face but to not be able to get it through guys and over guys. I don't Have you ever Have you ever seen a game where there was as many tipped balls? >> No, not as many. I was thinking the same thing in game like Cooper Rush is 6'4 6'5. You think about that doesn't usually happen. You think about maybe shorter quarterbacks having issues with trying to find those avenues to throw through and you have the issues and you're like, "Oh man, Cooper Rush is a big old dude, man. He better throw the rock." And you still find ways to get that ball tipped. So, yeah, it was kind of interesting that you had guys open. You had a guys in places where it's probably going to be a completion and you get a tipped ball or you get a deflection. Uh it was definitely weird but give those guys a lot of credit, man. That's what they teach. If you can't get there, get those hands up and they made those plays. But yeah, definitely a uh weird set of events where you have that many tipped balls or deflections in a ball game. >> Yeah, give Denver credit. You know, they're they Again, this is a veteran defense. They were number one in the league rushing the passer a year ago. They had 68 sacks or whatever it was, like third all-time in NFL history for a season. And they were number two against the run. This was not a one-trick pony defensively, and they played their starters in the game just like we did. And and their guys won. >> So, we're not going to sit here and sugarcoat it. Like, it was not a great performance. It wasn't. And it's one that you want to learn from, and you want to turn the page, and you want another shot to get back out on the field. And that's exactly what's going to happen as we start today. As the Atlanta Falcons are going on the road, and they're going to do joint practices with the Colts this week culminating in a preseason game, the second preseason game away from Atlanta. So, gentlemen, I want to talk a little bit about First of all, Arch, did you participate in joint practices? How many times? Do you know? Was it more than one? >> Uh yeah, it was probably four or five times. >> Okay, so four or five times. So, for the folks that don't get a chance to see clips on social media, never been there, kind of paint a picture of what a joint practice is, and how it differs from a traditional at-home training camp practice. >> Okay, so when you show up, even though the juice has been phenomenal. We've all experienced what the Falcon fan has brought out here to open practices, and it was an outstanding job by our Atlanta fans to come out and watch practice. There's a little bit more juice in this one because an opposing team shows up. We've had the likes of Tennessee a year ago. Uh we had New England in here. We've gone on the road to the Jets. We've gone down to Miami. Uh Miami used to come to us when I when I was up here. Um but there's a little bit more juice in the air when you know that there's an opposing team there. And and frankly, with the way the rules are now as far as the hitting and trying to be smart about taking care of both teams, and both teams will kind of use a similar concept in trying to take care of one another in the practices, make no mistake, that dude knows that's an opposite color jersey and it ramps up. So, you've got practice speed, then you've got game speed. This settles somewhere in between in my opinion, where the it it gets a little bit chippy cuz it's hey, I don't really have to care about that guy. Now, I'm not trying to hurt him, but he's on the other team. So, I'm going to take it up a notch. So, and Kevin Stefanski said all his all his starters are going to be heavily involved in these two practices against Indianapolis. Probably won't see them in the game. So, this is it magnifies, especially what happened Friday night and how you leave with such a distasteful feel about yourself as a team. [snorts] Not talking about the fans are saying, talking about yourself. You're going to be ramped up a little bit. And Indy, I mean, if I'm Indy's Indy's coaching staff, I'm saying, "Hey, listen, this team's coming in probably a little pissed off." >> [laughter] >> So, we need to make sure that our level matches their level. So, it'll be interesting to see how these practices go. >> You know, Shock, I never I'll never forget because I made pretty you know, my career on special teams. And the here's the difference when it comes to joint practices versus training camp when when you're on special teams, okay? So, just so you're aware, the know that like your your special teams players, the core guys are pretty much on are on all special teams, right? So, they're going to the best guys are going to play on all four of your primary special teams. Reason why I tell you that is because when you go to a training camp practice, and you pretty much always lead with punt team. Most everyone's going to tell you that the punt team is the most important special teams play because it's the one play you can guarantee to change 40-plus yards of field position on one snap. So, you always work on it first. And what happens is when you go to joint practices, it's not now your first punt team against scouts, like it is in training camp, it's your first punt team against their number one punt block. >> Who Who's the most important person on that punt team? I'm asking [laughter] for a friend. I'm going to say the personal protector. >> Oh, okay. >> To make sure that everybody's on the same page. BUT THE REASON WHY I say this is because the soft toss for everything. >> [laughter] >> But what I'll tell you is you go one punt versus number one punt block against somebody else against different jerseys against not against with guys that are trying to make a football team. And if you're on a punt block team and you think you're going to make the team, how you think you're going to make it? Go block a punt in practice, right? So there's an energy, there's a speed, there's a tenacity to joint practices like Arch talked about that's even more ramped up. Now yes, you're still going to take care of each other. After every period you're going to dap each other. How you been, man? How's your family and them? But when when they blow the whistle it's time to go. Like it's time to go. What's been your experience? Did you guys Did you participate? >> Yeah. >> And did you feel that same amped up energy? >> And and it was early in my career and I remember it being a situation where I didn't really know what to expect. And nobody really kind of told me like oh, it's going to be a little bit juiced up. It's going to be a little bit more amplified and it's going to feel a little bit different. And for me it was probably the closest I felt to like to like getting into like a game. Because on the other side you weren't really sure what they were going to do. You weren't really sure how they were going to adapt to certain things you did. And then for quarterback you had to have a heightened focus because I've seen our defense for the last two weeks. I know what that nickel guy is going to do when you know, I give him a little shoulder. I know what how this guy is going to come out of his you know, when he's in cover three whatever. But I didn't know what they were going to particularly do. So my focus when it comes to the coverages, uh the the fronts, the blitzes, where we're hot at, all that kind of stuff had to be totally heightened because it felt like a game atmosphere. And I knew in those moments, those were the moments that the coaches really want to see players go out and perform. And I was a, you know, late-round guy, so it was like, okay, we want to see what this guy's about. We know what the starters can do. We know what Michael Vick can do. We know what Matt Schaub can do. These guys have been there and done it. So, for me, it was an opportunity to showcase that I'm ready for those moments. And I think a lot of guys go into these joint practices feeling that way because it's the closest you're going to get to the real game atmosphere in controlled situations. And I think that's what makes it a little bit different for me when it comes to these joint practices to an actual game is the coaches can control the situations of practice. They can control, I want to put this guy in a third-and-long situation, see how he adapts. I want to put this guy into a 2-minute drill against a defense that he's not used to, and you get to see how he can really, uh, evaluate him in those situations. So, I love the fact that those are the practices where you probably can get the most out of what you're looking for when it comes to a player or comes to a team and how they perform because a We heard Stefanski talk about it this week. He said, "Yeah, I've talked with Shane Steichen. Yeah, we've talked about certain scenarios, situations that we want to make sure that we hit on, and, you know, we're going to make sure that we're ready for those moments." And I think in his mind, he's thinking about, okay, how do I get Michael Penix ready for a certain situation? Or how do I get a certain defensive lineman going against one of their best tackles? Whatever it may be, he can set that up in practice. So, now he has a clear view. That's why, you know, Arthur just mentioned, you're probably going to see the starters in game two because they're going to get all the work they need against their starters in game-like situations that you probably can't even get in the game cuz there's some stuff in the game that you just like, man, I wish we had an opportunity to have a a 4-minute drill. I wish we had an opportunity to go through X, Y, and Z, but in that was joint practice, they can get that same effect against an opponent and it feels like a game. >> Rock, let me ask you this. And you I cool you mentioned on special teams because I think as much as we talk offense, defense, and it gets ramped up, you just mentioned, you know, punt team, punt protection against punt block. I think the special teams ramps up even higher than the special than offense and defense. One, because obviously the importance of of that unit and how it can change the game. I think what are the percentages if you get a punt blocked in a game? I think the numbers that coaches throw out there is like 85% you lose the game if you get a punt blocked. Okay, it's some some ungodly number. Um, that being said, the bulk of the guys that are on those special teams, you know, if you start talking about maybe the the back end of those those guys are fighting to get on the team. And so, that might be their only opportunity for So, tell me about your experience with that and guys maybe taking it a little bit further when it comes to hey, we're we're thud tempo. No, it's not for me cuz I'm trying to make a football team. >> Yeah, I mean, I'm glad you you pointed that out because think about this. Like, if if you're a fan and you watch football in the NFL and you watch punt, I would tell you probably if there's eight punts in a game, six or seven of the eight punts is going to be a designated return, right? Because you generally have some of the best athletic return men in the world playing in the National Football League. And what I reason why I'm saying that is you might get one or two block looks in a game, okay? But, at a joint practice, every single rep is a block look because of what you talked about. Because we cannot afford to get a punt block during the game. So, you might run 12 reps in a joint practice, and every single one of them is going to be their best block that they got. Special teams or coaches are talking about it beforehand. They're saying, "Hey, this is I've been struggling with this in camp. Can you give me something where you got a looper coming from the second level? Or I've got a great left guard, but for some reason he's always getting picked off on a twist. Can you give it to me because I need to see if he learned it, right?" But to your point, individual players you might have a guy that's been slated in that left guard or the right wing position, and that's where he's going to make the football team. >> Yeah. >> Okay? >> Real. >> And if he can go out in a joint practice, and he can shut down one of their best block specialists in 2 days, in 24 reps, coaches are like, "I can count on him." >> Yeah. >> He can be on my team. Oh, by the way, did you see what he did on kickoff coverage? Did you see the way that he locked that dude down on kickoff return? Like, to your point, that's where these guys end up making football teams, and it could be made by their success or, conversely, their failures in these highly competitive situations. >> thing that that that comes to mind when you talk about that scenario is you could see in practice when you going against your own guys, and there's a particular play, and you got takes care of you a little bit. You know what I mean? Like, he rushes, but he doesn't really like put you in danger of like you going to get beat. >> Yeah. >> But when you go against another team on the other side, my dude ain't doing that. >> [laughter] >> He ain't trying to save you. He trying to He trying to show up on that tape. So, guess what? Ain't no Uh I take care of you. That's another reason why these joint practices are good cuz you going to get a real look. Because just as you mentioned that wing guy or that left guard is trying to make the team, that guy rushing off the edge, who trying to get that block, this might be his opportunity to make the team as well. >> Yeah, and plus the intensity piece of it is as you two guys are talking about, that is ramped up. We've I think we've pointed that out. And so you're getting a truer rep of what it might look like in a game. >> True rep. >> You're also the the trueness for me from a quarterback standpoint, we've been practicing for 2 weeks here. They had OTAs, mini camps against one another. That corner knows what what's going on. He's squatting on routes. You're going to start getting a truer look. Okay, what's cover three look like? What's cover one look like? You know, and they're going to give you true looks cuz they don't know what we're doing. And so they have to there's a true reaction. They're We know where we're going and then he has to react to it. He hasn't been studying tape on us or any of that kind of stuff. Hasn't been sitting in practice waiting going, "Wait a minute. When Drake London does this with his body, he runs the out route. I'm going to jump it." You're not going to get that in this situation. So you're going to get as a quarterback you can get truer looks. >> There was nothing more true than what you just said. If anybody been on atlantafalcons.com and went and looked at there was a conversation at the uh the Saturday night lights Lanier, right? >> Lanier with Drake London and A.J. Terrell. And they were going back and forth and A.J. simply told him, "Hey man, I saw your line up here. I saw your line up here. I saw the split. You was too tight. I knew exactly what's coming. So I jumped outside or I jumped inside." Whatever it be. Those are the small nuances that you get within those 2 weeks of practicing together that you can see and know like, "Bro, I knew that was coming." And they they was able to talk about it, communicate it. So now when Drake gets to the game, he can understand that moment of, "All right, I got to change my release up. I got to change how I go about attacking him on this particular route." And it's great communication to have when you have that. And I think that happens so much when you get into these kind of practices is, "Okay, finally you get to go against somebody who doesn't know everything about you." And that way it kind of gives you a a heightened advantage of, "Okay, here's the things I can work on." But it was the truest statement you ever mentioned. It brought it to my mind right there hearing those two guys go through. All right, man. I knew you had this tight split. I knew there was only two routes that you can come out of this and he was able to to to kind of lock it down, which was great communication from those two guys. >> All right. So, these two teams are going to battle it out during joint practices this week and as we mentioned culminating into the preseason game this weekend. So, Arch, I'm going to ask you this question as we kind of wind this down and I'm putting up I'm going to put a caveat here, fellas, and you're going to get a chance Shock as well. I'm going to ask you about what you're looking for in the game this weekend, but your answer cannot be better than last week. So, we need something a little bit more concrete than that. What are you wanting to see? If we don't see the starters, which doesn't matter whether your second or third string, you have the same expectations as the starters. What are you hoping to see differently this weekend that you did not see last week? >> Yeah, I think that obviously execution would be would be number one and that might be a different way of saying better than last week. >> [laughter] >> You got around that. >> You want to you want to build a offensively I want to string first downs together. If we score a touchdown, we get down the red zone, we'll take care of business and take that take care of that when we get there, but let's put some first downs together. Let's get some rhythm. That was something that I think Tua talked about is because of a couple mistakes, maybe a missed block or a dropped snap or something, never got any kind of rhythm. Get him get him some kind of rhythm going. Now, and I know it's again, Tua and Pinix probably won't play and the guys that normally play with them probably won't be in the game. So, what are you actually gaining from that? Well, these guys that are going to be playing in the game are going to be guys that you're going to potentially going to be counting on. There's also going to be the piece and and maybe we can talk about it before we get out of here. There were some There's going to be individual guys in this game. This might be as important a game in my mind for individual guys to step up. Not that you don't play the team concept, but I identify like you were talking about, identify a guy, whether it's that guy that's on the wing in punt team, identify a guy, oh no, that that guy's got to be on the roster. This is an opportunity for those guys they're going to get more reps, get an opportunity to say, wait a minute, I can count on him. That's That's my That's my fifth wide receiver. That's my fourth wide receiver. Whatever it might be. That's the guy I need as my backup nickel because I know he can handle the work. You're going to get individual moments like that. I thought you had some in this game that identified some players, but that's what I'll be looking for. >> Shock, I'm going to tee you up with this because what you just said Arch caught it made me think from a couple of years ago is that my answer to that question that I posed was going to be I want to see somebody pop. Okay, I want to see somebody pop off the screen, off the field. And my example, if you guys remember, was a couple of years ago DeMarco Hellams. >> Yeah. >> DeMarco Hellams was all over the field in preseason games. And I don't know about you guys, but I'm sitting up there watching and I said, that guy's got to be on the team. Cuz he just keeps making plays. That's what they're looking for. So, for me this weekend, I want to see a couple guys just pop off the page and be like, you can win with that. >> Yeah. >> So, what are you looking for this weekend? >> You know, the the the biggest thing that I want to see it is better line of scrimmage play. I thought in the past game, regardless of how good Dimmers been, regardless of uh where they were last season, you should still be able to have some sense of execution when it comes to the run game. Uh when it comes to protecting your quarterback. >> Uh we ran for 59 yards on 23 carries. >> Yeah. >> The starters weren't in for four quarters. Regardless if they were or not, you still have to have better control on the line of scrimmage. They ran for 163 yards in the game. Last year, we talked about this was a team that needs to be able to stop the run better. We were 24th in the league against the run. Let's be better against that. Let's start this preseason. Let's start on Saturday with that. Um the other thing as a QB, obviously, I want the QBs to be a little bit more efficient in the ball game. There were a couple of air throws in the ball game. There were a couple opportunities to be made. Receivers, they made a couple of plays. Give them a lot of credit for that. But, we need to be more efficient. 16 of 36, 134 yards, two interceptions. We got to find a way to be a little bit better when it comes to the pass game. Put all that together. That comes with the line of scrimmage as well. So, I'm looking forward to seeing that again. And then, there were a couple guys We were talking about it, and you just mentioned it. There were a couple guys in the ball game that that had a really good first game. That really popped. There were some good individual efforts in the ball game. Can those guys do it again? >> Mhm. >> Those are going to be similar guys coming into the second ball game. There's going to be opportunities to have even more opportunities to showcase that, "Hey, that first week, that was good, but I can do this consistently. I can be a guy that you can lean on when when it comes to seeing if you need me." So, yeah, I want to see some of those other guys uh A guy that comes to mind was Tyler Goodson, hometown kid, North Gwinnett High School. Made a couple of really good cuts in the ball game. Ran hard, ran physical, showed speed the one time getting to the left edge, getting around the corner, almost getting in the end zone. Those are the type of plays you want to see go from week one. Can you do it again in week two and show the coaches that, "Hey, this is not just something that you just saw one week." >> Yeah, did some good stuff on special teams, Tyler Goodson, too. You know, he was a he's a guy who was on return team. One guy jumped out for me, guys. I liked it Brandon Dorlus was really active. I thought Brandon Dorlus was pretty active in even though maybe we didn't we weren't as good as we needed to be against the run. I thought he was pretty active along the defensive front coming off a really good year a year ago with the eight and a half sacks. Can he step up his game against the run game? I know it's something that's very important to him. But, a guy that kind of jumped off the page at me, not not to mention James Pearce Jr. was outstanding. I thought that he was a force to be reckoned with. We know what's going on there. Won't have him for the first eight games of the season, but he looked pretty good in the game. Was Darnay Darnay Holmes. I thought that Holmes There's a battle going on the nickel spot. You know, Billy Bowman is the guy that played extremely well prior to his injury. He's coming off of a an Achilles injury. Don't know what his timetable is. Obviously, it's not going to be probably for the regular season start. Hasn't gotten a lot of hadn't gotten any snaps as of yet. Sydney Green's been a guy that's been in there. Adeon Terrill did not play in the game because he was a little bit banged up this last week. He's been taking some reps in there. Now that Darnay Scott has taken advantage of his opportunities or Darnay Holmes has taken advantage of his opportunity and I don't think a lot of people knew about him, but I thought he did a really good job. He got some pressure on the quarterback on a blitz. So did Sydney Green, by the way. Sydney Green did a nice job of getting around the back and getting in the quarterback's face on a play. So that's kind of a little battle within the battle. Now whether those two guys play in this game because all of a sudden their importance has elevated because you know, where they are on the depth chart, but I'll be interested to see where that is. But Darnay Darnay Holmes has really impressed me. He's been He's a good tackler. He can blitz out of that nickel spot and he's done a nice job of covering. So he's kind of been one of those guys that's really jumped off the page to me in the first three weeks. >> I just want another guy that that we have talked about doing training camp. I was like, man, I can't wait to see more of him. How about Josh Simon out of South Carolina? Making a couple play couple people miss in space and getting down field. Yeah. I'll say well you you're watching him like you could see why he led the team yards, catches, everything his last year at South Carolina. So yeah, one guy who who told me this tight end group and how much the Falcons love tight ends, how much Kevin Stefanski loves to use, you know, tight ends. Could he be a guy that sneaks his way in there as maybe that fourth tight end? We'll see. >> By the way, you guys were talking about Goodson. Is it any Is it odd to you guys at all that he's a running back? He wears number 25 and his name is Tyler. >> [laughter] >> I put that to I was watching the game the other night. I was like >> correlation? >> I was the guy that gets 25, his name is Tyler and he plays running back. >> And plays pretty well, too. >> It doesn't always work that way. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> All right. So, we talked about this week, better execution, more efficient, better play at the line of scrimmage, and I talked about players popping off the page. >> Mhm. >> What do you think? What do you want to see? And not just Let's talk about constructive things, like actual things that you think will help this team win. You're a coach. What are you looking for out of the Falcons in this game against the Colts? Let us know down in the comments or however you are watching this >> you're back, right? So, that you don't get, you know, beat up in the streets cuz not being here. So, you know what I'm saying? >> I I I almost got cussed out cuz I wasn't here last week. >> Hey. >> All right. >> We were cussing you out. >> Make sure you pay attention >> [laughter] >> Make sure you pay attention to all the Falcons socials and channels [music] the rest of this week. Will and Tori will be giving you updates from Indianapolis on how things are going with joint practices, [music] and then we will be watching or involved in the game in one way, shape, or form, and we will [music] be back here next week to recap things for you after preseason game number two. On behalf of DJ Shockley, Dave Archer, I'm Derek Rackley. [music] This is The Falcons Audible presented by AT&T, and we will see you next [music] time. >> See you everyone.