Falcons’ defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich knows defense will follow his credo

Jeff Ulbrich is sure of two things.

First, it’s only a matter of time until he gets a tattoo of his personal and coaching mantra: “heart, mind, fist.”

Second, the Falcons’ defense he leads, which may have as many as four rookies playing at the same time, will personify his credo.

A temporary henna tattoo may be the smarter choice until Xavier Watts, Billy Bowman Jr., Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. fight through the rookie fog.

But ink is ink, permanent or temporary.

Get that needle ready either before Sunday’s season opener against the Buccaneers, or after.

“To the casual fan that maybe doesn’t know a ton about football, they’re going to walk away seeing a defense that strains and plays with passion and has real connection with each other,” Ulbrich said Thursday. “They’re going to see a defense that executes at a high level. There’s a high-level precision, communication, synergy — and ultimately, there’s going to be a level of violence that they haven’t seen for a while.”

Because Ulbrich acknowledges being intentionally redundant: To recap, “heart, mind, fist” is another way to play smartly, with passion and aggressively. It’s catchy, and tattoo-able, as evidenced by Ulbrich saying another coach and former player had it permanently put on his body.

Ulbrich’s defenses with the Jets, where he coached before he rejoined the Falcons, were adept at following his beliefs. New York ranked 13th (23.8 points per game) last season, 12th (20.9) in 2023, fourth (18.6) in 2022, and 32nd (29.6) in his first season. The Falcons never have ranked higher than 18th (21.9) during the past four seasons.

“You’ve got someone who’s played in the league and at a high level for 10 years,” safety Jessie Bates said of Ulbrich. “I think the teaching is a little bit different with a Brick (Ulbrich) and just his presence, man. That’s one thing I’ve been really impressed with is the person that he is and the way that he’s explaining our style of play. He lives by it. That’s what he does day by day.”

Ulbrich said he’s not sure he’s had a two-deep depth chart that has as many first- and second-year players in the secondary as the Falcons will field against Tampa Bay, which features quarterback Baker Mayfield and wide receiver Mike Evans, who surpassed 1,000 yards receiving in 2024 for the 11th consecutive season.

Ulbrich said he knows that Watts, listed as the starter at safety, and Bowman, listed as the starter at nickel back, will play with heart and the metaphorical fist. The mind is something that will likely have to be developed through experience. He said there will be moments when all of the rookies are going to realize why certain coaching points are emphasized. It will be important that they don’t repeat mistakes. Once they get past the feeling like they are drowning, then Ulbrich said it will feel like they are taking a deep breath and the game will slow down.

Bates said he’s been working with Watts, drafted 96th overall from Notre Dame, to try to help expedite the learning process.

“When things aren’t exactly how it says on the iPad, you’ve just got to be able to work through it,” Bates said. “This league’s hard, man, and everything’s not gonna be perfect. So just talking to X (Watts) and those guys, just having that understanding (that) it’s a long, long season, long game, but as long as you continue to prepare and be consistent in that aspect, I think they’ll be just fine.”

Playing under a different coordinator (Jimmy Lake) last season, the Falcons in their season-opener gave up 270 yards, including 137 rushing, to the Steelers in an 18-10 loss. The Steelers finished the season averaging 319.4 yards and 22.4 points per game.

The Jets last season gave up 401 yards in their opener, including 180 rushing, in a 32-19 loss to the 49ers. The 49ers had one of the league’s best offenses, averaging 376.3 yards but only 22.9 points per game. That game, despite the result, exemplified how well the Jets’ defense played. It finished third in yards allowed (313.8) and fourth in passing yards allowed (192.6) with 43 sacks, 20 less than leaders Denver and 15 more than the Patriots, who finished with the fewest.

The Jets allowed 23.8 points per game and 121.1 rushing yards per game. The defense was hurt by its inability to create takeaways, finishing with 17, less than the Falcons’ 18.