Flowery Branch — Kicker Jason Elam smiled when asked about his Falcons debut Saturday, then he stated the obvious.

"I have to work on the whole accuracy thing," he said.

Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Wide receiver Roddy White stretches the crucial hamstring as he warms up with his teammates to prepare for practice Tuesday.

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The 15-year veteran known for his big leg and clutch kicks with Denver, missed two of three field goals attempts (49 and 54 yards) in Atlanta's 20-17 exhibition loss at Jacksonville. Elam isn't worried, but he isn't brushing things off, either.

"I was hoping to go out and do well," said Elam, who signed a four-year, $9 million contract in the offseason. "New teammates, new staff. You want to earn their confidence more than anything."

"Not [concerned] at all," Falcons coach Mike Smith said of Elam's missed kicks. "Jason's been doing this for a long, long time. We were down in the humidity; we wanted to put some long balls out there to see what it was. I don't have any concerns about that. I know Jason's going to be able to put it between the pipes when it counts."

Elam evaluated tape of his kicking motion during the game and in practice leading into the loss and realized his mechanics were off. He has spent the past two days making corrections.

"I was really cutting the ball," Elam said. "I've been working on some stuff, and I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable."

He said he typically isn't as good in preseason games, so the poor start is nothing unusual.

"I was thinking all the way back to 1994 and people were calling for my job back then during the preseason," he said. "I missed a couple last year early on and things went really well in the regular season."

One of the reasons Elam left the thin air of Denver to play for his hometown team was the chance to kick in the Georgia Dome eight games in the regular season. He has kicked in the Dome once, in 1997.

"I pulled my groin on the opening kickoff, so I don't have any experience in the Dome at all," he said. "I'm excited about doing it."

The Falcons' exhibition home opener is Saturday against Indianapolis.

Injury update

Starting left cornerback Brent Grimes hurt his left knee against Jacksonville and has been held out of most team drills at practice. Second-year corner David Irons is working with the first-team defense. ... Linebacker Keith Brooking sat out of practice with sore ribs. defensive end John Abraham (ankle), cornerback Chris Houston (shoulder), tight end Martrez Milner (ankle, toe), wide receiver Joe Horn (hamstring).