Five things we learned from the Falcons’ first practices at training camp

FLOWERY BRANCH — Legendary Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan attended the team’s third day of training camp practice Sunday.

After practice, Ryan wanted to know what the news of the day was. He was told that rookie outside linebacker James Pearce Jr. taking on the whole offensive line was the hot item.

“They need to put the pads on,” Ryan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The franchise’s only NFL MVP-winner will get his wish when the Falcons hit the practice field Tuesday for their first padded practice.

Here are five things we learned from the first three practices in shorts and shirts:

1. James Pearce Jr. is a beast

Pearce’s speed and tenacity got under the skin of the offensive linemen.

He was involved in two scuffles Sunday before order was restored.

New defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich clearly is experimenting with a lot of different combinations all over the defense. The unit clearly was ahead of the offensive over the first three practices.

“Not to give them any excuses or outs, but it’s Year One in our system,” Ulbrich said. “We had a day that I felt like the offense got the best of us. I felt like the next day, we came out (the second day, and) I felt like we got the best of them. I felt (Sunday) that the offense came back and got their day. We can’t have that. We can’t.”

Ulbrich is looking for consistency from his unit, which could feature six to eight new starters.

“With the great ones, they step on your neck,” Ulbrich said. “They keep it on your neck. We have got to foster that mentality here.”

2. Falcons’ kicking competition is real

Younghoe Koo missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt wide right Sunday. He was 4-of-5 on his attempts.

Lenny Krieg was 5-of-5 and was booming the ball. He made attempts from 39, 48, 56, 50 and 30.

While neither kicker faced a serious rush, the first kicks have been fired in the kicking competition.

3. Penix’s accuracy outside the numbers

Former Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas was also was at practice Sunday with his children.

Douglas raved about quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and his accuracy. He especially enjoyed several of the throws outside of the numbers.

Penix is comfortable running all of the motions that Kirk Cousins said on the “Quarterbacks” Netflix show that he struggled with last season.

“Oh, I’m used to it,” Penix said. “That’s what I did in college. We (use) so much motion in college, so I’m pretty used to it. The only thing that was different for me was the verbiage.”

Making the longer play calls in the huddle with super-compound sentences was a project for Penix.

“So that was what was new to me,” Penix said. “As far as motions, I’m used to it. It helps you see the picture, keeps the defense off-balance. We snap the ball, they’re still trying to communicate, so we won already.”

4. There are ball security issues

For an offense that Penix believes can be the best in the league, the players placed the ball on the ground way too often over the first three practices.

Defenders continued to attack the ball after the catch and had four punch-outs over the past two practices. Mike Hughes had two. DeMarcco Hellams and Keith Taylor each had one.

Wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard addressed ball-security issues to the wide receivers after Saturday’s practice. He noted that most of them had been working with no defenders over the offseason. Now, against defenders they have to get more serious about protecting the football after the catch.

5. Bijan Robinson on deep routes

Running back Bijan Robinson has been getting open on his routes down the field, but he had a drop Saturday.

The Falcons appear ready to use him more in the passing game and not just as a check-down guy.

Robinson had 365 offensive touches last season. The Falcons could cut down his number by using backup running back Tyler Allgeier more.

“Yeah, I hate to say there’s a ‘governor’ put on Bijan,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “It’s never looked at that way, but you definitely want to protect that kind of unique athlete. There’s unique athletes like that, that you can protect them from themselves. He doesn’t need a governor. He doesn’t need anything, but he’s certainly one of those guys that can carry the load.”