Falcons’ Bralen Trice ready to move past injuries: ‘I’ve grown through it all’

FLOWERY BRANCH — When he took the Falcons’ job this spring, coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t go back to Bralen Trice’s college tape or his minimal preseason snaps to get a gauge for the third-year outside linebacker’s potential.

Stefanski did plenty of work on Trice and asked the returning members of the defensive staff about his skill set. He received high marks. Now healthy and wearing pads for the first time in close to a year, Trice is giving Stefanski plenty to evaluate — and appreciate.

“Bralen’s done a nice job,” Stefanski said Friday. “Looks healthy. Very disruptive, powerful player. Just continuing to bring him along and find his fit as well on the defense.”

Trice, a third-round pick in 2024, hasn’t played a regular season game in the NFL — he tore his ACL in the preseason in 2024 and reaggravated a knee injury late in the 2025 preseason. He’s been a full practice participant since the spring, and he appears headed for a large role this fall.

The Falcons may need to lean on Trice sooner than expected in the wake of Jalon Walker’s season-ending ACL tear suffered in Tuesday’s practice.

Trice has seen more snaps with the first-team defense in two training camp practices since Walker’s injury, and Falcons outside linebackers coach John Timu said he’s seen a “huge improvement.”

“I think No. 1 is obviously he’s got to take care of his body, stay healthy,” Timu said Wednesday. “Losing him for the last two years for a full season, that’s tough for anybody. So, easing him back into it, being aggressive and smart with his approach to practice, because I don’t have any issue with him playing football.”

Timu knows Trice better than anyone on the Falcons’ staff. Their relationship dates back to 2019 at the University of Washington, where Timu was a graduate assistant and Trice was in the infancy of a decorated five-year college career.

The duo shares plenty of chemistry, which Trice said adds to his comfort level. It also gives Timu the chance to coach, and mentor, Trice in a different manner than other coaches.

“My experience with him in the past has been awesome,” Timu said. “I know a little bit more than other people, so I can push him as much as I need to and then pull off when I have to.”

The Falcons’ previous regime drafted Trice with hopes he’d develop into a stalwart pass rusher. He was a two-time All-Pac-12 first-team honoree, a captain and every-game starter on a Husky team that lost in the national championship. A productive defender, he tallied 16 sacks and 23 ½ tackles for loss over his final two years.

Injuries, however, ravaged Trice’s first two years — but they didn’t ravage him. He believes the recovery, the highs, the lows and the process itself prepared him for the opportunity that awaits.

“I don’t see it as hard, man,” Trice said of missing the past two seasons.
“It’s just been a lot of work, but I feel like I’ve grown through it all. I’ve become a better player and I’ve become a better person. On and off the field, there’s been a lot of different things to juggle, but it’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed the work in the process and now I’m out here feeling great.”

Trice warms up differently. He’s changed the way he takes care of his body, realizing just how much attention to detail it takes to be a high-functioning professional athlete. He’s also experienced changes in his personal life — he married his wife, Ariana, in the spring of 2025 and became a father to his son, Taylen, in January.

“I think he’s far more mature,” Timu said. “He’s got a family now, so that’s huge. That affected his why and it affected his game.”

Timu added Trice is in a “real good” head space, and the 25-year-old said he’s put his injury issues in the rearview mirror.

“I don’t think there’s a block,” Trice said. “I don’t think there has been a block. The health stuff never was an issue for me. It’s just been about getting out there and getting the reps, and we’re at that point now, and I feel 100% comfortable out on the field. I do what I can do and do it to the best of my ability.”

Without Walker, the Falcons turned to Samson Ebukam as the leader in their outside linebacker room. Cameron Thomas, who played under Stefanski the past two years with the Browns, has also seen extensive snaps with the starters, while veteran Azeez Ojulari rotated in with the first-team defense Friday.

But perhaps no option is as intriguing as Trice, a legitimate wildcard who’s played roughly 50 preseason snaps and nothing else in his professional career. Timu thinks he has an idea. He feels Trice is still “the same Bralen” who he knew with Washington, only older and more mature.

Trice agrees. He enters this preseason fighting for a job, a chance to make his mark, a chance to finally play. But more importantly, he enters it with an understanding of how he wants to physically feel.

The Phoenix native knows how to prep himself before games. He knows how to take care of himself after games. He knows how to manage his body outside the facility.

Now, Trice plans to use the lessons he learned from two seasons on the sideline to catapult him into a breakout season — and he has no fear, both mentally and physically, about the health of his knee going into it.

Trice looks back at where he was in August of 2024, his knees healthy, his future bright. He looks at himself now, older, wiser, battle-tested. The injuries cost him two years. He doesn’t think they cost him his ability.