FLOWERY BRANCH --Here are five things we learned at Falcons practice on Tuesday:
1. Taylor signed. The Falcons were down a running back after B.J. Daniels suffered an undisclosed injury and signed running back Kelvin Taylor after his workout. He is the son of former NFL great Fred Taylor.
2. Injury report: Free safety Ricardo Allen wore a black jersey for the second day. He has a sore shoulder. He said he could play on Thursday night. Defensive end Jack Crawford (groin) returned to practice. Tackle Kevin Graf (right arm) and defensive end Martin Ifedi (ankle) did not practice.
3. Not playing. Wide receiver Julio Jones and Taylor Gabriel will be held out of the first exhibition game against Miami at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Graf, Ifedi and Daniels will not play. The coaching staff has not made a decision on rookie defensive end Takkarist McKinley, who's recovering from shoulder surgery.
4. Play calling: Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will call plays from the press box and defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel will call plays from the sideline. Sarkisian will be in contact with quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan and defensive passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson will be Manuel's eyes from the pressbox.
5. Garland to start. Ben Garland will start the first exhibition game at right guard, according to coach Dan Quinn. The battle is ongoing and Quinn said don't make too much out of the team's official depth chart that was released on Monday with Garland with the first team. Garland and Schweitzer have been rotating at practice.
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