Falcons’ JD Bertrand ready for his increased role

“It was weird,” Bertrand said. “There’s something that told me. I think it’s a God whisper or something. For some reason I thought I was going to play. I kept on telling myself. I know that opportunity’s going to come.”

Call it an intervention or foreshadowing, but starting linebacker Divine Deablo, who was off to a spectacular start, suffered a fractured forearm early in the second quarter. Bertrand took over and finished with 10 tackles in the 20-10 loss against the 49ers on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

He was working with the first-team defense during a padded practice Thursday.

“I feel good about the preparation and the position I’m playing,” Bertrand said. “I feel good about all of that.”

Bertrand felt he played well against the 49ers.

“I think I did well overall,” Bertrand said. “I was assignment sound. Played well. Played aggressive. I knew what I was doing out there.”

Bertrand is set to make his first NFL start against the Dolphins.

“Going forward, the nice thing is, I was backing up a lot of positions,” Bertrand said. “I was next man in at a lot of positions. It will be nice to be able to focus a little bit more on a singular position and be able to really kind of get into the details of that position.”

He’s been preparing for the Dolphins’ offense, which is led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, running back De’Von Achane and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.

“They’ve got a lot of speed,” Bertrand said. “A lot of window dressing with how they present different looks. Knowing that and then just kind of getting into the basics of who they are and who they want to be on film.”

Deablo, a candidate for injured reserve, is set to miss some time.

“You hate that he gets hurt because he’s an awesome dude and an awesome player,” Bertrand said. “It’s just the nature of the position. Injuries happen.”

“You’ve got to give him a lot of credit going out there, being the backup, stepping in,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “He got the mind award on our defense, being able to go out there and execute our game plan, get everything done that we had to get done.”

The Falcons are going to need improved play from Bertrand and likely safety DeMarcco Hellams as they plan to replace Deablo with linebackers and defensive backs.

“Obviously, we’re not good enough,” Morris said. “We lost the game. But for him personally, to be able to go out there and get those things done and not slow us down, I thought was awesome.”

Bertrand has a big supporter in defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

“He’s a very unique player in the fact that he can play (middle linebacker),” Ulbrich said. “He can play (weakside). He can play on the line of scrimmage, off the line of scrimmage. Obviously, he can handle the full specials-team load at the same time, and then go out there and play.”

Bertrand will work next to inside linebacker Kaden Elliss, who’s the signal-caller.

“I have a good relationship with Kaden on the field and off the field,” Bertrand said. “So, I think we gel together well.”

It’s a big opportunity for Bertrand and Elliss, who is in the last year of his three-year, $21.5 million contract.

“He brings a toughness,” Ulbrich said. “He brings some anticipatory stuff that’s very unique because he sees the game in a unique way, especially from the running perspective. He’ll bring an element that we didn’t have, too.”

The Falcons want to improve their run defense after the 49ers mashed them for 174 yards.

“Just people to the ball,” Bertrand said. “You can’t have just one person to the ball. It’s as many hats as you can get to the ball. Eleven in the frame at the end of every snap.”

Ulbrich was disturbed by the 49ers’ 1-yard touchdown run.

“The goal-line play, that’s one that will be seared into my brain,” Ulbrich said. “I’m sure it’s seared into the brain of a lot of guys in that locker room. That can never happen on our watch ever again. When one man stops them, that’s where the ball carrier ends. That’s where the yardage ends. That wasn’t the case on Sunday night, so we’ve got to do a better job.”

Bertrand and the defense will face a unique challenge against the Dolphins. Achane is tied for ninth in rushing yards with 472.

“The perimeter run game and the screen game,” Ulbrich said with regard to how the Dolphins use Achane. “That’s just getting him in space. When you give him space, if you don’t track him correctly, if you don’t set edges, if you don’t preserve him collectively as a defense, he has finish power.”

Achane has a long run of 49 yards and three touchdowns. He got loose for a 46-yard run last week against the Browns.

“He’s a guy that can take something real short and take it all the way,” Ulbrich said. “You’ve got to corral him. You’ve got to understand how they feature him when he’s in the game.”

Bertrand helped Blessed Trinity, which is in Roswell, win two state championships. He was a two-time captain at Notre Dame. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and then started on a master’s degree in business analytics. He was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, known as the academic Heisman Trophy.

Bertrand was a tackling machine at Notre Dame. He finished his career with 267 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, nine passes defensed and two forced fumbles. He was a three-year starter.

“The biggest thing is just to reload,” Bertrand said. “It’s a long season, and there’s a lot of games left. So, there has to be a reload there.”

The Falcons want to stop the Dolphins in their tracks.

“The idea of just motion yards,” Bertrand said. “Even if you make the contact, it’s a second-and-7, but if they’re able to push the pile to make it a second-and-5, that keeps them on track. We have to make sure that we’re able to prevent that going forward.”

Bertrand earned the respect of the veterans.