5 things to know as the Falcons return from their bye week
FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons, not big fans of their early bye week, return to practice Tuesday.
The Falcons (2-2) will start preparing for their game against the Bills (4-1), which is set for 7:15 p.m. Oct. 13 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons went into their bye week after posting a 34-27 victory over the Commanders on Sept. 28.
“It was nice to get a win going to the bye,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “It definitely makes it way more enjoyable. And then you do look forward to coming back. … We’ll be ready to go. We come back to play a prime-time game on Monday night.”
Here are five things to know as the Falcons return to practice:
Wide receiver depth
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney is off to a slow start. Wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge has missed a game.
“He left (the Washington game) with the hamstring,” Morris said. “So, we’ll see. I don’t know how bad it was, but I don’t think it’s something too bad. But we’ll get a (health) check. I’ll get a feel for it.”
Mooney has seven catches for 79 yards over three games this season. He was slowed by a shoulder injury he suffered on the first day of training camp before suffering the hamstring injury.
Wide receivers Casey Washington, Ray-Ray McCloud and David Sills V will be in line for more action if Mooney’s hamstring injury lingers.
Also, the Falcons have four wide receivers on the practice squad in Chris Blair. Dylan Drummond, Nick Nash and Deven Thompkins.
Washington had a strong training camp and has caught four passes for 52 yards.
Run defense
In the most recent meeting, in the 2021 season, the Bills mashed the Falcons with 200 yards rushing. The Falcons held a 15-14 halftime lead. That apparently upset highly favored Bills, who proceeded to steamroll the Falcons in the second half and won 29-15.
The Bills’ rushing attack is led by running back James Cook, a former Georgia standout, and quarterback Josh Allen.
The Falcons gave up 147 yards and 6.7 yards per carry in their last outing against Washington. Running back Chris Rodriquez got loose for a 48-yard gain.
“Yeah, so really the one big run, the 48-yarder, is the one that can really crush it,” Morris said. “You can never say ‘except for’ in this game. But, if you can get rid of that run, you don’t feel terrible about it, especially with a quarterback run game. … Well, (that) can really tilt that thing.”
Washington quarterback Marcus Mariota got loose on a key third down for a 22-yard gain. The Falcons likely will have to keep a spy defender on Allen.
Self-scouting
During the bye week last season, the Falcons looked at how they were using their personnel.
Linebacker Kaden Elliss received an expanded role afterward in that he was used and moved around the defense. Also, Arnold Ebiketie was moved around more.
“Getting those guys going and trying to find ways and different things that we can get going,” Morris said. “All of those guys up front being in different positions and trying to get those guys aligned at different things so we could dictate terms a little bit better.”
This season, the Falcons plan to focus on finishing. The goal is turn their increased pressures into sacks.
“You want to go find ways to finish some of those sacks,” Morris said. “I think we had 15 presses (against Washington). We had two sacks. We had the big six-sack game in Minnesota. You want to find ways to capitalize more of those opportunities because, if you do those things, you can be really effective in that way.”
Upgrades on offense
The Falcons believe their identity on the offense with Michael Penix Jr. as the new quarterback is starting to take shape.
“I think our identity came out in a major way (against Washington) when it came to running the football and then being able to get some of those throws off in play-action pass,” Morris said. “(Penix) was 76% passing and doing some of those things, some really good things.”
Penix finally was able to take some deep shots.
“We got the long ball going, so to speak,” Morris said. “I think that was another part of it. So, just really increasing those things and doing some of those different things.”
Morris also wants the special-teams units to keep improving.
“Our coverage unit has really been outstanding,” Morris said.
The Falcons are confident that returner Jamal Agnew will spark some punt returns.
“You always want to keep improving and keep going,” Morris said. “But really, you just build off your natural things that you have and what your identity looks like and making sure it’s coming out on tape.”
Injury report
Cornerback A.J. Terrell (hamstring), Mooney (hamstring) and Hodge (groin) are the key injured players for the Falcons.
“Hoping that we can get A.J. back after this bye,” Morris said. “Another week of rest for him and get a chance to get him out there.”
Offensive tackle Storm Norton (ankle) and defensive tackle Ta’Quon Graham are on injured reserve with a designation to return. Linebacker Troy Andersen is on the physically-unable-to-perform list.
“Obviously, you potentially could open up a couple of those windows coming up here shortly after the four weeks are up,” Morris said. “Then that’s up and then you open those things up. You’ve still got those weeks that you can have kind of as buffers.”
Elijah Wilkinson is playing well at right tackle for the injured Kaleb McGary.
“Elijah played his best game (against Washington), probably as a Falcon,” Morris said. “You never want to say that you’re not going to be competitive that way, but he’s playing well right now. We’ve got to see when Storm is able to come back, how quickly he can get back involved and get him into the mix.”
Norton could land in the swing tackle role.
“It’s a long season,” Morris said. “Everybody’s going to be a significant contributor at some point. I’m just glad I got him. I’m glad Elijah’s been able to play well. It’s been great.”
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
