Flowery Branch — The Falcons will have as many as 12 new starters in Saturday's exhibition opener against Jacksonville. There could be six on defense and six on offense from the starting lineup that closed last regular season against Seattle.

"There are a lot of young players that I think are going to have a really fun time in Jacksonville, having their first professional action," Falcons coach Mike Smith said.

On offense, left tackle Sam Baker (Quinn Ojinnaka started the season finale), center Alex Stepanovich (Todd McClure), right guard Harvey Dahl (Kynan Forney), tight end Ben Hartsock (Alge Crumpler), wide receiver Michael Jenkins or Laurent Robinson (Joe Horn) and running back Michael Turner (Warrick Dunn) are new projected starters.

"We've got a bunch of young guys," second-year lineman Justin Blalock said. "We are excited to get out there and see how we play together when it's a live game."

Robinson returned to practice on Thursday and could start for Jenkins.

"He will be a game-time decision," Smith said. "This is the first action that Laurent has had in quite some time. We'll have to wait and see how he responds to running around."

On defense, under tackle Grady Jackson (Jonathan Babineaux), middle linebacker Tony Taylor (Keith Brooking), weakside linebacker Brooking (Demorrio Williams), cornerback Brent Grimes (DeAngelo Hall), cornerback Chevis Jackson (Chris Houston) and free safety Erik Coleman (Chris Crocker) are set to start Saturday.

Chevis Jackson, a rookie third-round draft pick, benefited from Houston's injured shoulder.

"Chevis, I think, is up to the task," Smith said.

New arrival Pimentel to play

Linebacker Mickey Pimentel, signed on Wednesday, expects to see action against Jacksonville.

"I was told that I was going to get in," Pimentel said.

He earned the roster spot left open when Robert James was moved to injured reserve. Pimentel will play weakside linebacker.

Abraham brings cheering section

Defensive end John Abraham invited a group of six children from the Ultimate Athletic Association to watch practice.

"It was just something to do, kind of fun to help the kids out," Abraham said. "I've got a lot of nephews. I came from a less fortunate home myself, without a father and stuff, so I wanted to bring them out here and show them that people do care about them."

Triston Burgess is the executive director of the group, which mentors children through athletics.

Kicker Lovell cut

in roster move

The Falcons signed center Doug Datish and waived kicker Kevin Lovell. Datish, a sixth-round pick in 2007, spent last season on injured reserve and was waived on June 23.

Drafted rookies

will get in game

Expect to see all of the Falcons' 10 drafted rookies get extensive time Saturday.

"We want to see what these young guys can do," Smith said.

Exhibition tickets

go on sale Friday

Single-game tickets for exhibition home games against Indianapolis (Aug. 16) and Tennessee (Aug. 22) go on sale at 10 a.m. today via Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800-326-4000.