Falcons will ‘continue to build’ around Penix; Ulbrich meets with Pearce

FLOWERY BRANCH — During a meeting with his players Wednesday, Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees issued a challenge.

His unit has done things — 80-plus points, 800-plus yards, eight or more rushing touchdowns, no more than one turnover and no more than one sack allowed — in a two-week span no Falcons team ever has. Still, he says, there’s more to do and plenty to clean up.

“The better we play, the more we should want to execute at a higher level, the more we should double down on what we’re doing and continue to focus on our process and let the results happen,” Rees told his players.

The Falcons aspire to be process-driven. Even after productive plays, they’ll point out flaws in the process when necessary. Because ultimately, Rees says, such flaws may come back to bite down the road.

“I think when you get focused on the results, so much of the process can become flawed,” Rees said. “I think the more you can point those out, our players are great in terms of understanding that and wanting more and wanting to be held accountable.”

That was one lesson learned Thursday from the Falcons’ coordinators. Here are five more, spanning Rees, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman.

Falcons will ‘continue to build’ offense around Penix

In two games since returning from a torn ACL suffered last November, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has completed 73.3% of his passes for 479 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Excluding end-of-half and end-of-game scenarios, the Falcons have scored on 13 of Penix’s 18 drives, including 10 touchdowns.

Rees said Penix is “doing a great job” and has a deep understanding of the team’s plan of attack.

“If we’re doing our job and providing a very clean picture for the quarterback, then we should operate at a pretty high level,” Rees said. “But that also takes a lot of work from Mike. So, give him a ton of credit for knowing the plan, seeing the coverages, understanding what we’re trying to attack, and then ultimately, he’s executing at a high level.”

So much of play-calling, Rees said, is about getting into a rhythm with the quarterback, and Penix’s play has allowed Rees to find his own footing. Together, they’ve helped the Falcons’ offense flourish.

Rees cited Penix’s 31-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jahan Dotson in the fourth quarter of the team’s 45-24 win over the New Orleans Saints as a prime example. Dotson runs that specific route well. Penix is able to make the throw. The Falcons had trust in both to execute, and they did. Rees said it’s a good instance of utilizing the players’ skill sets to a high level.

The Falcons plan to enjoy many more moments of similar nature moving forward.

“Certainly, Mike is able to do a lot of things on the football field, so we’re going to continue to build around him what he does well and try to unlock the things that he can do really well and put our guys in the right positions to have success,” Rees said.

Engstrand a ‘home run’ hire

When the Falcons filled out their offensive coaching staff this spring, they placed a heightened priority on nailing the hire of their passing game coordinator. They chose Tanner Engstrand, who spent last year as the New York Jets’ offensive coordinator but was fired in January.

Mission accomplished.

“Tan’s great,” Rees said. “I think we hit a home run.”

Engstrand sits next to Rees in the Falcons’ coaching booth, lending a helping hand when necessary, and his experience has been a significant benefit to the 34-year-old Rees in his first full season as an NFL play-caller.

“He’s been around a lot of successful coordinators, been a coordinator himself, has a wide range of knowledge within offensive football,” Rees said. “He has things that maybe weren’t necessarily part of our system that he brought in, that was really what we were after. I really work closely with him throughout the week.

“Obviously, on game day, we’re together, so he’s a sounding board for me. He’s someone I rely on heavily. He provides great insight, great ideas. He helps me with really everything throughout the week.”

Daniels, Dorlus helping Falcons create unique flexibility

The Falcons’ front seven has been a pleasant surprise thus far, leading the NFL with 87 quarterback pressures despite a low blitz rate while also boasting the league’s best run defense.

One of the keys, Ulbrich said, is versatility. The Falcons are refining their personnel groupings and feel they have the ability with certain packages to handle third-and-7 the same way they’d approach short-yardage situations.

Rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels and third-year defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus are central reasons why.

“Those two give you the ability to do everything base and everything nickel, all with one set of human beings out there, which it’s pretty exciting,” Ulbrich said.

Ulbrich added Daniels has “kind of unlocked us in a lot of ways.” The 6-foot-5, 242-pounder has learned the roles and responsibilities at defensive end, middle linebacker, weak side linebacker and strong side linebacker, and the Falcons are confident in his ability to play each at a high level.

Their defense, collectively, has benefited.

“He’s a rare rookie that he can learn multiple spots,” Ulbrich said. “And not just linebacker spots, the fact that he also learned the line of scrimmage stuff is so unique. It really is.”

Ulbrich meets with Pearce

Falcons outside linebacker James Pearce Jr. is halfway through his eight-game suspension and is back inside the team’s facility. He’s allowed to meet individually with coach Kevin Stefanski, Ulbrich and outside linebackers coach John Timu, along with sitting in on team meetings and doing individual workouts.

Pearce isn’t allowed to view or participate in practice or team workouts until the beginning of Week 9, when the Falcons face the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 8 in Madrid.

But the Falcons are maximizing their current breadth of access to Pearce. Ulbrich said he had a sit-down conversation with Pearce, and he likes where the 22-year-old is at both physically and mentally.

“He’s in a great space,” Ulbrich said. “I got to peek at him working out, out there. He can’t obviously participate with us, but some of stuff he did physically, he looks good. Looks like he’s been working. So, excited to get him back. It’s going to be a couple weeks here, but I feel like he’s really in a good place.”

Chris Blair’s standout special teams play

Late in the first quarter of the Falcons’ win over the Saints, receiver Chris Blair aligned on the left side of Atlanta’s kickoff coverage formation, sprinted downfield, deconstructed a block and made the tackle. Blair returned to a king’s welcome on the sideline.

“You’re talking about a special teams coach with a smile on his face after he saw that,” Aukerman said. “And what was great about it was everyone on the sideline was going crazy as well. I talked to Brick afterward — he’s like, ‘Craig, I saw that, I couldn’t even get a defensive play in. It was such a great play.’ But it gets all the fans excited, it gets the players excited. Just a great job.”

Blair, who also played 14 snaps offensively and is a valued commodity as a blocker, leads the Falcons with six tackles on special teams thus far. He’s embraced doing the small things, and he’s pleased Aukerman in the process.