Finneran makes case to stay with Falcons

Wide receiver Brian Finneran, fighting for a roster spot after missing the past two seasons with torn knee ligaments, made a strong case for his retention against the Tennessee Titans in the Falcons’ exhibition home finale Friday night.

Working as the No. 4 wide receiver ahead of second-year player Laurent Robinson, Finneran caught a 9-yard pass on third-and-seven on Atlanta’s opening drive for a first down. He later made a tough catch for seven yards on the same drive, which resulted in a punt.

On the kickoff after the Jason Elam kicked a 39-yard field goal to tie the score 3-3 early in the second quarter, Finneran tackled Tennessee returner Chris Carr at the Titans’ 10.

Finneran finished with five catches for 53 yards in three quarters.

“Brian had a very solid night catching the ball, had some conversions on third down,” coach Mike Smith said. “He had a big tackle on kickoff cover. It’s nice to see Brian coming back from being out for two seasons.”

Penalty issues

Smith wasn’t pleased with his team’s 10 penalties in Atlanta’s exhibition opener at Jacksonville. He wasn’t too happy with the nine penalties for 101 yards against the Titans.

“There’s a lot of emotions in a football game, a lot of things going on,” Smith said. “This is cut-down week throughout the league, a lot of guys trying to impress coaches about their passion for the game and how hard they want to play. We had entirely too many personal foul penalties. They were chippy on both sides We’ve got to address that.”

Weiner gets the start

Veteran right tackle Todd Weiner got his first game action since being placed on injured reserve Nov. 29. In fact, Weiner, who is recovering from major microfracture knee surgery, started against the Titans and squared off against Jevon Kearse.

Wiener more than held his own. His false start on the Falcons’ opening possession after Harvey Dahl was called for a personal foul two plays earlier stifled a developing drive, but Weiner, who played the entire first half, fared well after that.

“Everything felt fine,” Weiner said. “I expect a little soreness; that’s the most I’ve done since last November. I feel pretty encouraged.

Tyson Clabo, who started 11 games last season, started the previous two games at right tackle. Smith said he wanted to see Weiner in action in order to see the possible starting offensive line when the regular season begins Sept. 7 vs. Detroit.

Dahl started and played well into the third quarter at right guard, a sign that one-time starter Kynan Forney, a seven-year starter who did not play Friday, could be in danger of getting released.

Jennings breaks loose

Punt returner Adam Jennings finally had the type of game that could keep him on the roster in the specialty role — and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

A week after fumbling a punt against the Colts, Jennings had two huge first-half returns, the second nearly resulting in a touchdown. The offense failed to move the ball both times, though, wasting the best highlights of the first half.

Jennings’ first sizeable return (22 yards) came with just more than three minutes remaining in the first half. He took Craig Hentrich’s punt near the right sideline and took it cross field behind a stout wall of blockers to give the Falcons a first down at their 40.

Jennings nearly broke his next return after taking Hentrich’s low, 40-yard punt at the 46, racing up the right sideline and meandering through traffic to Tennessee’s 16. The drive ended with Elam missing a 33-yard field-goal attempt wide left.

Attacking the pass

The Falcons used a variety of defensive schemes — and personnel — in passing situations. Backup outside linebacker Stephen Nicholas was used with the first-team nickel package at one point.

Late in the first half, the Falcons showed another nickel (five defensive backs) set and defensive end Jamaal Anderson was moved inside to tackle and rookie Kroy Biermann was brought in at Anderson’s normal left end spot. John Abraham, who had a monster game (four tackles, one sack), played the other rush end.