FLOWERY BRANCH – Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has not spoken to the media at-large yet in training camp.
He will speak after today’s practice, the fifth of training camp. We'll have a story on MYAJC.COM later what he did this offseason and some video later.
Ryan, who’s rooming with quarterback T.J. Yates, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and running back Steven Jackson, did speak to radio station 680TheFan Tuesday morning.
Here’s some of what Ryan had to say:
ON THE OKLAHOMA DRILL: "That's what the attitude of playing football is all about. I think that's what coach (Mike) Smith was going for yesterday. I think guys brought into it. As the drill went on, there was more and more talking. There was more and more excitement. It was fun. It was a good change up for being on the practice field."
ON BEING A BETTER QB AND LEADER: "So, much experience. Good and bad. I think that both of those help you become a better leader. Both of those help you become a better teacher. I think one of the things that has been different this offseason from some other offseasons is that I've had to take more of a role with teaching than I've had in other years past. Tony (Gonzalez) is gone. Julio (Jones) was out the majority of the offseason. Roddy (White) was out the majority of the offseason. We had new guys in at wide receiver like Devin Hester. All new tight ends. So, I had to really go back to the basics. . . .We are going to learn the offense and just know the base stuff. . . .(later) we can work on all of the nuances from there. It's been different. It really has. I think the experiences of last year and how fine of a line it is between wins and losses and what it takes to get it done in this league has really helped."
ON REPLACING TONY GONZALEZ: "You're not going to replace him with one guy. Tony is a guy (who) came into this league and really changed the position into what it is now. . . . We are not going to replace that with one guy. That's unfair to ask the guys that are here to do that. We have to do it two ways. We have to do it with a group of guys at different positions and we have to do it by changing our scheme a little bit. We are going to have to be a little different than we've been in the past because the things that Tony could do that we hung our hat on for five years, other guys aren't capable of doing that all the time. We'll have to be a little bit different and we're going to have to ask guys to step into some different roles." (He said we may see more of their "10" personnel package. That's 1 running back and 0 tight ends = 10 personnel. That's their 4-WR set of Jones, White, Harry Douglas and Hester.)
ON IF THE OFFENSIVE LINE IS IMPROVED: "That remains to be seen, but I think these guys have done a helluva job this offseason and through training camp. I really like Jake Matthews coming in. He has a great attitude for a rookie. He's really, really smart . . . . He's really strong. He's really athletic and he's really smart. I think that's a great combination for when you are talking about a cornerstone of your organization for a long time. I think that was a great draft pick for us. Jon Asamoah has done a great job of coming in and picking up our scheme. He's a veteran guy. So, I really like what he brings to the table. He's quiet, but he goes to work. I think you've got a guy in Joe Hawley, who's in that slot competing with Peter Konz at center right now. Joe at the end of last year got to get a lot of experience and at that center position. I think that's under-valued a lot because those guys are asked to do so much at the line of scrimmage in terms of getting the other four guys on the same page. Then we get Sam Baker back healthy, which is huge for us. He's a great player. On paper I think we should be a lot better. On the field from what I've seen right now, those guys have done a great job.
ON HIS TACKLE OF ROBERT ALFORD: "Robert, he made a great play. He did. He made a good play on the ball. It was a deep ball. He had been telling me that he was going to get me for a couple of days, so we were covering the interception like you always have too, right. He cut back inside and I just happened to be in that spot. I kind of wrapped him up at first and was kind of laughing. Then I figured I might as well take him the ground. … it was fitting for the first day in pads."
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Osi Umenyiora tells us where's the pass rush going to come from
Dwight Lowery fitting in at free safety
Left tackle Sam Baker is off to strong start
Steven Jackson: "I kind of believed my own hype"
Roddy White not worried about his legacy, he wants Super Bowl rings
PROJECTED 2014 TRAINING CAMP DEPTH CHART
OFFENSE
WR 11 Julio Jones, 15 Courtney Roby, 89 Bernard Reedy, 18 Freddie Martino, 8 Jabin Sambrano
LT 72 Sam Baker, 76 Lamar Holmes, 74 Terren Jones
LG 63 Justin Blalock, 68 Gabe Carimi, 67 Adam Replogle
C 61 Joe Hawley, 66 Peter Konz, 62 James Stone, 69 Harland Gunn
RG 75 Jon Asamoah, 69 Harland Gunn
RT 70 Jake Matthews, 79 Mike Johnson 73 Ryan Schrader
TE 80 Levine Toilolo, 86 Bear Pascoe, 82 Mickey Shuler, 81 Jacob Pedersen, 49 Brian Wozniak
WR 84 Roddy White, 83 Harry Douglas, 14 Geraldo Boldewijn, 16 Julian Jones, 87 Tramaine Thompson, 7 Jeremy Ebert,
QB 2 Matt Ryan, 13 T.J. Yates, 12 Sean Renfree, 9 Jeff Mathews
RB 39 Steven Jackson, 32 Jacquizz Rodgers, 35 Antone Smith, 33 Devonta Freeman, 30 Josh Vaughan, 34 Jerome Smith
FB 42 Patrick DiMarco, 45 Maurice Hagens, 43 Roosevelt Nix
3-4 DEFENSIVE FRONT (We just have the two-deep so far)
LOLB – 71 Kroy Biermann, 49 Tyler Starr
LDE – 99 Tyson Jackson, 97 Peria Jerry
NT – 96 Paul Soliai, 92 Travian Robertson
RDE – 95 Jonathan Babineaux , 93 Malliciah Goodman
ROLB – 94 Jonathan Massaquoi , 50, Osi Umenyioria/90 Stansly Maponga
ILB – 59 Joplo Bartu, 53 Prince Shembo
ILB – 55 Paul Worrilow, 44 Pat Angerer
4-3 DEFENSIVE FRONT
RE 95 Jonathan Babineaux, 50 Osi Umenyiora, 96 Jonathan Massaquoi, 90 Stansly Maponga
DT 99 Tyson Jackson, 97 Peria Jerry, 65 Donte Rumph
DT 96 Paul Soliai, 92 Travian Robertson, 98 Cliff Matthews, *91 Corey Peters
LE 77 Ra’Shede Hageman, 93 Malliciah Goodman, 49 Tyler Starr, 64 Nosa Equae
OLB 71 Kroy Biermann, 48 Brenden Daley, 45 Jacques Smith
MLB 55 Paul Worrilow, 44 Pat Angerer, 52 Tim Dobbins, 54 Yawin Smallwood
OLB 59 Joplo Bartu, 53 Prince Shembo, 51 Marquis Spruill, 46 Walker May,
SECONDARY
RCB 21 Desmond Trufant, 28 Javier Arenas, 37 Ricardo Allen,
NB 26 Josh Wilson, 27 Robert McClain, 28 Javier Arenas, 41 Dezmen Southward
LCB 23 Robert Alford, 24 Jordan Mabin, 43 Devonta Glover-Wright
SS 25 William Moore, 36 Kemal Ishmael, 40 Kimario McFadden, 22 Zeke Motta
FS 20 Dwight Lowery, 41 Dezmen Southward, 29 Sean Baker
SPECIALISTS
K 3 Matt Bryant, 6 Sergio Castillo
KO 5 Matt Bosher
P 5 Matt Bosher
KR 17 Devin Hester, 28 Javier Arenas, 14 Courtney Roby
PR 17 Devin Hester, 27 Robert McClain, 28 Javier Arenas
LS 47 Josh Harris
H 5 Matt Bosher
TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE
Date Practice Times (public availability)
Tuesday, July 29 Practice 3:30 – 6:05 p.m. (open to the public)
Wednesday, July 30 Players’ Day Off (No Media Availability)
Thursday, July 31 Practice 3:30 – 6:05 p.m. (open to the public)
Friday, August 1 “Friday Night Lights” at Archer High School (Lawrenceville)
6:45 – 9:10 p.m. (open to the public)
Saturday, August 2 Practice 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. (open to the public)
Sunday, August 3 Practice 3:30 – 6:05 p.m. (open to the public)
Monday, August 4 Combined Practice w/Tennessee 3-5:30 p.m. (open to the public)
Tuesday, August 5 Players’ Day Off (No Media Availability)
Wednesday, August 6 Practice 3:30 – 6:05 p.m. (open to the public)
Thursday, August 7 Pregame Walkthrough (No Media Availability)
Friday, August 8 Falcons vs. Miami Dolphins
Georgia Dome
7:00 p.m. ET – CW69
Saturday, August 9 Practice 4:30 – 5:45 p.m. (open to the public)
Sunday, August 10 Players’ Day Off (No Media Availability)
Monday, August 11 Practice 3:30 – 5:50 p.m. (open to the public)
Tuesday, August 12 Practice 10:00 a.m. – 12:35 p.m. (open to the public)
Wednesday, August 13 Combined Practice w/ Houston Texans (Houston, TX)
Thursday, August 14 Combined Practice w/ Houston Texans (Houston, TX)
Friday, August 15 Pregame Walkthrough (No Media Availability)
Saturday, August 16 Falcons at Houston Texans
NRG Stadium
8:00 p.m. ET – CW69
Sunday, August 17 Players’ Day Off (No Media Availability)
Monday, August 18 Practice 10:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (closed to the public)
Break Camp
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