Stefanski, Falcons’ defense placing greater emphasis on takeaways

FLOWERY BRANCH — Thirty minutes before the preseason finale, and before leaving the field from pregame warmups for the final time as a 19-man band, the Falcons’ defensive backs huddled and brought their fists together on the Hard Rock Stadium sideline.

At the top of the collection of hands — like the Hollywood sign resting atop Mount Lee or Simba being held high from the outstretched arms of Rafiki — were two footballs. For the back end of the Falcons’ defense, there is no greater priority, no bigger idol, than the ball.

“As a defense, we talk about the ball being oxygen,” Falcons secondary coach Justin Hood said.

This summer, they’ve talked about it often — and much more than the past handful of years.

Every defensive meeting starts with Jeff Ulbrich bringing up the ball. The Falcons’ defensive coordinator has long prioritized it. So, too, has coach Kevin Stefanski, who’s forced the staff to emphasize it every chance they get.

Consider the scenes from a typical Falcons practice. Every time the ball hits the ground, be it after a drop, an inaccurate pass or, of course, a fumble, Hood yells “SCOOP.” In one instance, when Hood shouted it several times and his player didn’t hear him, Stefanski reinforced it from midfield.

“Scoop,” after all, is a Stefanski-ism — and it fills the air of Falcons practices at the end of most plays in team period.

“Going to the term, if you will, of ‘scoop,’ Kevin’s come in and made an emphasis of, if the ball is on the ground, we scoop, we pick it up,” Hood said. “I think often on the grass, what you get is what you emphasize. So, often, we’re just yelling, ‘Scoop the ball up, attack the football.’”

Hood and Ulbrich, the two biggest voices for the Falcons’ defensive backs, were both in Atlanta last year.

But under Stefanski, cornerback Clark Phillips III, who completed his fourth offseason program with the Falcons last week before being traded to the Chicago Bears on Aug. 30, said the staff has placed a greater emphasis on the ball.

“I think it starts top-down,” Phillips said. “Stefanski’s biggest — one of his biggest things is scooping every single ball. It’s a cardinal sin not to scoop the ball.”

The purpose is rooted in mindset and not missing the chance to generate a turnover. Truth be told, Phillips said, players don’t often know if a live ball is a fumble or an incompletion. Scooping the ball no matter the outcome does no harm, and if the stars align, a fumble recovery or scoop-and-score opportunity presents itself.

“Stefanski’s big on that,” cornerback A.J. Terrell said. “As soon as we see the ball on the ground, pick it up. Don’t let no coach, referee or nobody pick it up for us.”

Terrell’s younger brother, rookie corner Avieon Terrell, said the staff has placed a “big emphasis” on it. “You never know when the ball is dead,” he said. “Every time the ball hits the field, you go scoop. You just never know.”

After the pass rush set a franchise record with 57 sacks last season, safety Jessie Bates III said this spring the Falcons want to break the team’s 46-year interception record, which currently sits at 26.

But creating takeaways, no matter the means, is the greater mission.

The Falcons ranked eighth in the NFL with 23 takeaways last season. They were seventh leaguewide with 16 interceptions, while their seven fumble recoveries tied for 18th.

Offensively, the Falcons had 18 giveaways, which left the team at a plus-5 turnover margin, eighth-best in the NFL.

“Turnover margin is a big indicator of wins,” Hood said. “So, if we can take the ball away at a high rate, we’re going to put ourselves in position to at least have the chance to win games.”

Stefanski is living proof. When he took over as the Cleveland Browns’ head coach in 2020, the team was fresh off a 26th-place finish in turnover margin at minus-8. In Stefanski’s first year, the Browns ranked No. 9 at plus-5, and they won a playoff game.

The issue, however, is the Browns never finished in the top half of the league — or with a positive difference — in turnover margin during Stefanski’s final five years. They were in the bottom quarter of the league each of the past three seasons, including a last-place finish in 2024.

Stefanski hopes to flip the script with the Falcons this fall. If he doesn’t, it won’t be for a lack of effort.

“When the ball turns over the other way, that’s a major point of emphasis for us,” he said after the Falcons lost the turnover battle, 3-1, in a 17-12 preseason win over the Dolphins on Aug. 28. “We want to be all about the ball, and we can’t be all about the ball if we’re putting it on the ground.”