Falcons want ‘more volume’ for Pitts, need run defense to become identity
FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. isn’t particularly known for the bass in his voice. He’s mellow, even-keeled and composed. But evidently, he has a certain area of pride he often brings up within the team’s facility.
“Mike brags a lot about his 40 time — his unofficial 40 time,” offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said Thursday. “We’re like, ‘Hey, are we gonna see it anytime?’”
Rees said Penix’s official 40-yard dash time is a 4.51. Penix likes to claim it’s in the high-4.4-second bracket. Rees and company “remind him it’s not quite in the 4.4s.” But the point remains: Penix’s legs, and the speed within them, have long created chatter.
The 26-year-old signal caller stated his case against the Bengals.
Penix rushed for a career-high 50 yards, all on scrambles, in the Falcons’ 34-17 loss to the Bengals on Nov. 8 in Madrid. The arrival of Penix’s off-script playmaking could be a significant development for the Falcons’ offense moving forward.
Look at the metrics.
“You study the top third down teams across the league every year — there’s usually a consistent theme, and if quarterbacks can pick up a couple first downs a game with their legs, usually those teams rank at the highest part of the league,” Rees said.
“There’s always examples of how it can really impact the defense (when) teams have to focus on that. So, Mike did a great job being vertical in the pocket, stepping up and being decisive when it was time to go.”
Here’s four other things we learned from Rees, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman on Thursday, three days before the Falcons (3-6) face the Chiefs (6-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Team desires ‘more volume’ for Pitts; feel penalties shorted him vs. Bengals
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski deems it unfair to hyperfocus on tight end Kyle Pitts, who’s on pace for career lows in receptions and receiving yards in a full-length season. Pitts has 25 catches for 220 yards this season to go along with four touchdowns, which puts him on track to set a new career-high in scores.
But after signing a three-year contract extension worth up to $54 million in June, Pitts hasn’t been as consistently involved — and certainly not as explosive — as one reasonably assumed.
“I think Kyle’s done a lot of the things we’ve asked him to do,” Rees said. “Kyle’s focus and intent has been great. He’s scored some big touchdowns for us. Certainly, do we want his volume to be up? Yeah, but there’s a lot that goes into that. So, in terms of how he’s approached being a teammate, attacking the prep, being someone that we can rely on, that’s all added up.
“We got to do a better job finding ways to have him impact the game.”
Pitts caught three passes for 23 yards, but he had two other receptions negated by penalties. Right tackle Jawaan Taylor committed a holding penalty on a 19-yard catch from Pitts, and an illegal shift on receiver Jahan Dotson took away a 15-yard gain.
“We had two explosives to him that got called back because of penalty last week,” Rees said. “So certainly, the stat line looks different.”
Ulbrich talks Bates’ exit
Last week, Ulbrich called safety Jessie Bates III one of the best players he’s ever been around in over a quarter-century as a player and coach. This week, he’s coming to terms with the Falcons’ decision to trade Bates to the Jaguars.
“Jessie is a special player, and as special of a player he is, the human being is even better,” Ulbrich said. “Everybody’s going to have to do a little bit more. Coach (Stefanski) talked about all of us doubling down on everything from our process to the role, which we have.
“And finding ways, whether we’re given a look on scout team, whether we’re actually playing in place of him, how we create the plan, everything we do — like, we all got to do a little bit more. And fortunately, we have a group that’s up for that challenge.”
Part of the dilemma: Ulbrich also said last week any team with Bates on it has a chance to thrive “because he’s going to make sure he’s going to touch every single human being from the front to the back and make sure we get the best version of them.” That connecting presence is now gone, and Ulbrich hopes his players rise to the occasion to make up for it.
“We all got to do a little bit more, and part of that is going to be the communication piece,” Ulbrich said. “So, that’s going to be Xavier (Watts) taking his communication to another space. That’s DeMarcco (Hellams) taking his communication to another space.
“That’s the linebackers being the ones that maybe start the communication as opposed to echoing the communication as they have in the past. So, it goes back to this common theme of just everybody doing a little bit more.”
What happened to Falcons’ run defense?
The Falcons boasted the NFL’s best run defense through four weeks, holding opponents to 48 rushing yards per game. They have the NFL’s worst run defense in the five weeks since, allowing 175.2 rushing yards per game.
Ulbrich acknowledged it’s a drastic shift.
“Ultimately, we’re just not playing well enough,” Ulbrich said. “And so, that’s me from a scheme perspective, making sure that we’re getting guys in the right spaces to be successful. At times, we’ve done that and didn’t play well enough. There’s times we didn’t do that, and it wasn’t on the players — 100% on coaches.
“So, we all have to do more and do better in regard to defending the run.”
Stefanski preaches that how the Falcons run the ball offensively and slow the run defensively defines who they are. Through four games, the Falcons thought they had a defined identity. The last five weeks have given Ulbrich reason to think otherwise.
“I’ve never been part of a great defense that didn’t defend the run well,” Ulbrich said. “That has to become part of who we are. That has to become part of our identity. And right now, it is not, and that is the 100% truth. So, we all have to do a little bit more in that way. And fortunately, we have a group that sees it the same way.
“So as long as we collectively see it that same way, we got an opportunity to make it better.”
Folk out, Moody in
The Falcons released kicker Nick Folk on Tuesday and replaced him with Jake Moody, who they signed off the Ravens’ practice squad. Aukerman said his discussion with Folk was emotionally “rough” because of their history together and the quality of person the 42-year-old has proved to be.
“It’s tough, obviously, losing a guy like Nick, who is the ultimate professional, comes to work every single day and does what he needs to do to be a professional football player,” Aukerman said. “He goes out to practice, makes his kicks. During pregame warmups, he’s, really kicking the ball extremely well.
“And when I say I have confidence in him, it’s the stuff he does in practice, in the pregames, that you build that confidence in him. And then unfortunately, it just didn’t work out in the games for him. So, tough decision.”
The Falcons, meanwhile, are excited about Moody. Aukerman worked him out during the pre-draft process in 2023, and soon thereafter, the 49ers selected him at No. 99 overall, making him just the sixth kicker selected in the top 100 since 2000.
“He had a great day of practice yesterday,” Aukerman said. “Strong leg, really good player, and look forward to him going out there and competing.”