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(Welcome all! With the NFL becoming more of a passing league, the “Cover 9@9” blog is here for you every Wednesday at 9 a.m. We'll get to everything about the Atlanta Falcons from Friday Night Lights to the exhibition opener against Tennessee at 7 p.m. Friday night at the Georgia Dome. We’re ready for practice 11 of training camp and will look at how Matt Ryan hopes to rebound from two losing seasons. -– D. Orlando Ledbetter)
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
1. FRONT OFFICE HARMONY: Quite frankly, it was hard to keep track of the Falcons restructured front office, the noise-gate case and the Super Bowl back in late January and February.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
The moves and the unwillingness to talk about them was baffling to veteran local media pundits. But now that some time has passed, it appears there was a method to owner Arthur Blank’s perceived madness.
He couldn’t really address the re-structure while coach-in-waiting Dan Quinn was working in the Super Bowl and risk receiving a tampering fine from the league. He knew that Quinn would have power over the roster, but he really couldn’t tell us that.
He also knew the noise-gate penalties were forthcoming.
Fast forward a few months, Quinn is in control. General manager Thomas Dimitroff and an assistant general manager Scott Pioli have worked along with him to get players signed who fit the new schemes.
“I think it’s going really well,” Blank said. “You can see the energy of the coach being transmitted to the coaching staff and to the players. That’s exactly what we’d hoped for and that’s exactly what we are seeing.”
Blank likes Quinn coaching staff.
“He’s surrounded himself with a coaching staff that reflects his personality and the kind of schemes he wants to run offensively and defensively,” Blank said. “The players are responding to it.”
Don’t be surprised if you see Blank with a set of ear plugs at practice, though.
“It’s pretty intense,” Blank said. “You just have to get yourself ready for some loud music. Non-stop loud music.”
Pretty sure that Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” or Rich Homie Quan’s “Type of Way” are not on Blank’s playlist.
But, that’s just fine.
“We’re getting everything that we had hoped for in Dan in terms of the enthusiasm, the energy, the drive and the competitiveness," Blank said. "There’s a lot of competition out there right now. It’s great.”
Blank felt that Quinn worked well with Dimitroff and Pioli in adding 16 players from other teams, at decent free agency prices.
“He had a wonderful offseason,” Blank said. “He worked great with Thomas and Scott. I was able to see that personally and I appreciate it.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
2. TRAINING CAMP MVP: So far, linebacker Allen Bradford, would get my vote for training camp MVP.
He’s been all over the place making plays. He’s going to help on special teams and must stay ready if something happens to Justin Durant.
Bradford, the converted running back from USC, is a humble guy, too.
“There is so much stuff that I can learn,” Bradford said. “So, many things that I can do better. I just try to keep building and keep building. I just try to listen to what coach (Jeff) Ulbrich, coach Quinn and coach (Richard) Smith have to tell me. The mistakes that I committed one day, I just try to correct them the next day.”
Bradford was the first player signed after Quinn was hired. He’s bounced around the league with stops in Tampa, Seattle, New York Giants, Cleveland and back to Seattle.
“With my hitting ability, I’ve learned that I just had to trust my eyes,” Bradford said. “What I see, once I make a decision, go. Coach Quinn (and I) had a good relationship in Seattle. He knows what I can bring to the table. I just want to prove it to him each day, prove it to the organization that I can be that guy or be on special teams.”
Bradford doesn’t plan to let up.
“I think I’m doing all right,” Bradford said. “I’m always hard on myself. There are a lot of things that I can do better. Mind over matter. Just keep working. Keep building each day. If I go in there and coach says I made a mistake, I write down the mistakes and I try not to make the same mistakes.”
3. TOUGHNESS ON DISPLAY: Falcons defensive line coach Bryan Cox has been impressed with the toughness of rookie defensive end Vic Beasley.
“He’s shown toughness, quite honestly that I didn’t know that he had,” Cox said. “I’m impressed with him as well.”
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4. PLAYER TO WATCH: Back during the offseason, Cox said he was impressed with undrafted defensive tackle Joey Mbu, who's from the University of Houston. He's continued to shine in training camp.
“He’s looking the part,” Cox said. “It will be interesting to see once we get into playing some of these games and get further into training camp, will (he) tail off or will (he) ascend. That’s the thing that you’re kind of looking for at this time of the year.”
5. PASS RUSH UPDATE: The Falcons believe Beasley will improve the pass rush, but now they must find him some help.
“We’ve done a good job of interchanging and mixing up guys on a daily basis,” Cox said. “Right now you are just trying to see how people fit and what happens. So, I’m not ready to say, this is the group yet. We are still tinkering with that and that will still probably go up until you get into the regular season.
“We do have a little more depth. We do have more people who can fit into that roll. Adrian Clayborn has looked really good in that role. (Jonathan) Babineaux has looked really good in that role. Beasley has looked good. (Grady) Jarrett is starting to step up. Malliciah (Goodman) started off a little slow coming back with his injury and his surgery. He came back and is now starting to round into form.
“Cliff Matthews was looking really good before he got hurt.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
6. BIERMANN UPDATE: Falcons defensive end/linebacker Kroy Biermann, is having a strong camp.
“Kroy has looked better in my opinion this year than at any point last year,” Cox said. “He looks healthy to me. We have a lot of guys that are certainly going to get some snaps, certainly that can play for us. Who will we send out as a starting group is not that important because we’re going to send a wave of people.”
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7. OFFENSIVE LINE: After a shaky performance at the Friday Night Lights practice, most of the folks were asking about the viability of the offensive line.
Quinn is comfortable with the group of left tackle Jake Matthews, left guard James Stone, center Joe Hawley, right guard Chris Chester and right tackle Ryan Schraeder which appears set to open against Tennessee at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Georgia Dome.
“We’re good with (Chris) Chester, and we moved him into that role, and (James) Stone, some at the guard, he’s looked good with (Mike) Person and (Joe) Hawley back-and-forth at center,” Quinn said. “But Chris is one that’s really jumped out to us, in terms of the quickness, the balance. We always knew that Mike could be a swing guy between guard and center, so we’re trying to do that. Then Schraeder and Matthews at tackle, that’s kind of staying in trend. There’s still a lot going on with the inside three, but Chester is certainly one that has jumped out at us.”
8. STEPHEN A. GOING WITH FALCONS: Most folks are picking the Carolina Panthers to defend their NFC South title and become the first team to win three consecutive titles since the formation of the conference in 2002.
But our pal, former NABJ 3-on-3 teammate (and fraternity brother) Stephen A. Smith is going with the Falcons.
9. SUPER BOWL ODDS: The Falcons are 40 to 1 win Super Bowl 50, according to analysts at MyTopSportsbooks.com. Seattle ( 5 to 1) and Green Bay (6 to 1) are the top NFC teams, while New England (9 to 1) is the top AFC team followed by Indianapolis (10 to 1). The Falcons are 22 to 1 to win the NFC championship.
Odds to win Super Bowl 50
- Seattle Seahawks: 5/1
- Green Bay Packers: 6/1
- New England Patriots: 9/1
- Indianapolis Colts: 10/1
- Denver Broncos: 12/1
- Dallas Cowboys: 14/1
- Philadelphia Eagles: 18/1
- Arizona Cardinals: 22/1
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 25/1
- Baltimore Ravens: 25/1
- Cincinnati Bengals: 30/1
- Kansas City Chiefs: 30/1
- New York Giants: 30/1
- Miami Dolphins: 35/1
- Minnesota Vikings: 35/1
- Buffalo Bills: 40/1
- Atlanta Falcons: 40/1
- Carolina Panthers: 40/1
- Detroit Lions: 45/1
- Houston Texans: 45/1
- New Orleans Saints: 45/1
- San Diego Chargers: 45/1
- San Francisco 49ers: 45/1
- St. Louis Rams: 45/1
- Chicago Bears: 60/1
- New York Jets: 75/1
- Oakland Raiders: 75/1
- Washington Redskins: 90/1
- Cleveland Browns: 100/1
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 150/1
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 150/1
- Tennessee Titans: 200/1
Odds to win the NFC Championship
- Seattle Seahawks: 5/2
- Green Bay Packers: 13/4
- Dallas Cowboys: 8/1
- Philadelphia Eagles: 9/1
- Arizona Cardinals: 12/1
- New York Giants: 15/1
- Minnesota Vikings: 18/1
- Atlanta Falcons: 22/1
- Carolina Panthers: 22/1
- Detroit Lions: 25/1
- New Orleans Saints: 25/1
- San Francisco 49ers: 25/1
- St. Louis Rams: 25/1
- Chicago Bears: 35/1
- Washington Redskins: 50/1
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 75/1
Odds to win the AFC Championship
- New England Patriots: 4/1
- Indianapolis Colts: 9/2
- Denver Broncos: 11/2
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 12/1
- Baltimore Ravens: 12/1
- Cincinnati Bengals: 14/1
- Kansas City Chiefs: 14/1
- Miami Dolphins: 16/1
- Buffalo Bills: 18/1
- Houston Texans: 22/1
- San Diego Chargers: 22/1
- New York Jets: 35/1
- Oakland Raiders: 35/1
- Cleveland Browns: 45/1
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 70/1
- Tennessee Titans: 95/1
Odds on the most likely Super Bowl 50 matchups:
- Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots: 16/1
- Seattle Seahawks vs. Indianapolis Colts: 37/2
- Green Bay Packers vs. New England Patriots: 19/1
- Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts: 22/1
- Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos: 22/1
TRAINING CAMP 2015 -- CAMP QUINN
Julio Jones adds another gear to his speed
Brooks Reed slowed by hip strain
Julio Jones has no update on his contract status
Matt Ryan: Falcons have to get ball to Devin Hester
Jacob Tamme believes Falcons can have a dynamic offense
Matt Ryan sees new offensive attack coming together
Devonta Freeman-Tevin Coleman competition heats up on second day of camp
MARK BRADLEY COLUMN: Dan Quinn's plan for the Falcons: 'Outhit people'
Veterans determined to rebound in 2015
POSITION BY POSITION LOOK AT THE TEAM
Thursday – Fullbacks/Tight ends
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