The Falcons are about to get a heavier dose of real football this week, and the biggest work will come before the preseason lights even flip on. After Friday night’s preseason game against Denver, Atlanta shifts into joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday and Thursday, a stretch head coach Kevin Stefanski sees as a crucial part of camp.
Stefanski said those sessions should squeeze a lot out of the week. “A lot of situational football will get accomplished,” Stefanski said.
“We’ll get a lot of reps for our starters. A lot of football to get practiced.
You get to do one-on-ones against players who you don’t have a book on. For the football team, just to be exposed to different schemes I think will be important.”
Those practices also arrive at a moment when Atlanta is adjusting its pass-rush plans. Cameron Sample, the new defensive end and Shiloh High School product, is stepping into a bigger spotlight after Jalon Walker was ruled out for the year and James Pearce Jr. was suspended for the Falcons’ first eight games.
Sample didn’t sound interested in easing into the opportunity. “It’s kill or be killed,” Sample said.
“Y’all will get to know me. I’m a good personality guy and joke around a lot, but between the white lines it’s war.
My approach to the game isn’t different. I prepare to be the starter every week.
That’s my mindset, I want to learn the playbook. I want the team to be able to count on me 15 snaps or 65.”
Atlanta is also dealing with Pearce’s absence on the edge. Pearce, last year’s leading pass rusher, will sit out the first eight games, and Stefanski said the team is keeping its focus on the process and the league’s rules.
“I’m very comfortable in us sticking to the process, including what the league is doing in this case,” Stefanski said. “I’ll make sure we’re in total compliance with those types of things. James, for his part on this football team, has done everything that I’ve asked him to do, everything his coaches have asked him to do, and we’ll just continue to follow the protocols and everything that’s in place from the league.”
Quarterback decisions, meanwhile, are still on hold. Stefanski is not rushing to name a starter, Michael Penix Jr. will stay in 7-on-7 work in Indianapolis, and Falcons starters are expected to take most of the practice reps without playing in the joint practice game.
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The temptation is obvious in Atlanta, where any encouraging quarterback glimpse can get wrapped in long-term hope pretty quickly. But Strand still profiles as a developmental project more than an answer to the franchises bigger questions, and the safer read right now is that his rise is about earning a role, not redefining the position room. [Read more 🡒]