Falcons’ Pearce working to ‘right some wrongs’ before potential season debut
MADRID — Jeff Ulbrich spent an entire season coaching James Pearce Jr., a year that started with training camp scuffles and ended with a third-place finish in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year race.
But nothing — no conversation, no interaction, no moment — gave Ulbrich, the Falcons’ defensive coordinator, as much insight into his young outside linebacker than the meetings they’ve shared over the past month.
Since Pearce was allowed back into the Falcons’ building after Week 4, midway through his eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, he’s met with Ulbrich once per week.
They talk about football. They talk about life.
“It’s been a really eye-opening experience for me just to get a better perspective of who he is,” Ulbrich said Thursday. “Not just as a football player, but as a man, and some of the things that make James, James. And in that, I think I’ve just gained an appreciation for him as a man.
“He’s working his butt off to really right some wrongs, and he’s working his butt off to become a better version of himself.”
On Feb. 7, Pearce was arrested in Miami-Dade County after an alleged altercation with ex-girlfriend Rickea Jackson. Pearce was later charged with three felonies: aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, fleeing and eluding police and resisting an officer with violence to his or her person.
Pearce is currently five months into a trial diversion program that, if completed successfully, will lead to all of the charges being dropped.
The Falcons welcomed Pearce back for mandatory minicamp, training camp and meetings with coaches since Week 5 of the regular season — circumstances when his presence was required as a member of the team and allowed under the conditions of his suspension.
That may continue Sunday, when the Falcons (3-5) face the Bengals (5-2) at 9:30 a.m. EST inside Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Pearce, a first-round pick in 2025 who posted a team-high 10½ sacks as a rookie, injured his back Friday and is questionable to play. But if he does, it’ll mark his first appearance of the season.
External perception around Pearce, for some, remains centered around the charges that alleged violence against Jackson. Inside the organization, teammates and coaches are eager to see the impact he’ll make on the field, so long as he’s good to play.
“We know the type of player he is,” safety Xavier Watts said. “Last year, he had a great year, and just excited for him to get back out there and kind of get his season rolling. He’s got fresh legs, so hopefully he’s out there getting the edge. Getting sacks is what he does. So, I think he’ll help the team for sure.”
Falcons defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus said Pearce’s return to the field is “gonna be fun,” and he’s excited to rush the passer with the 6-foot-5, 243-pound Pearce.
“He’s a wonderful player,” Dorlus added.
The Falcons have a “pretty good sense” of Pearce’s conditioning level, coach Kevin Stefanski said, given that he’s been in the team’s weight room for the past month, but they don’t have a specific number of snaps set for a proverbial pitch count.
They do, however, have a role in mind — and a willingness to be flexible if Pearce’s play warrants it.
“I think initially, he’ll probably be more in the pass-rush capacity,” Ulbrich said, “whether that be second-and-longs, third downs, but we’ll see. A lot of his conditioning and ability to play more will be dependent upon what he shows us as the game goes along.
“So, thinking as we go in with a pitch count, but you can obviously change that thinking really quickly based on how it plays.”
Stefanski felt Pearce had a “good week” of practice, and the Falcons’ first-year coach is pleased with how Pearce navigated his return-to-play program within league rules.
“Very specific in terms of what we could do with James throughout the process and have trusted that, trusted this thing to play out,” Stefanski said. “And he’s held up his end of bargains and everything that’s been asked of him, including this week.”
Falcons players have spoken with approval of the 22-year-old Pearce’s demeanor since his return.
Informed of Ulbrich’s remarks about Pearce opening Ulbrich’s eyes in their meetings, Dorlus agreed. He said he’s “for sure” seen a new, perhaps more mature, version of Pearce in the team’s facility over the past month:
“You can see it in his face,” Dorlus said. “The way he calms himself on the field, the questions he’s asking — he’s trying to get in tune with the defense. Being out eight weeks is really hard. We have certain communications that he hasn’t been a part of, so just trying to get back into that is really hard.
“I see that he really wants to get into that, so I’m really happy that he’s maturing that type of way.”
The Falcons are surely hoping that public conversation about the charges will quiet as Pearce begins to play.
Before the NFL announced Pearce’s eight-game suspension in August, Stefanski and general manager Ian Cunningham tiptoed around questions about their star edge rusher, though in the spring, Cunningham referred to initial reports as “concerning, to say the least.”
With his return imminent, Ulbrich and others have started speaking more candidly — not about Pearce’s case, but the man they feel has emerged from it.
Ulbrich dubbed Pearce’s approach “amazing.” He has a deep appreciation for Pearce’s desire to correct his past mistakes and leave them there. It’s not a given, Ulbrich said, that players carry the humility and wisdom to do such a thing.
Those are the early signs the Falcons have seen that give them confidence Pearce has learned, and confidence he can justify the franchise’s decision to stand by him in the face of public scrutiny.
The Falcons are hoping Pearce sustains it — and proves them right in their granting of a second chance
“I feel like he’s made a real concerted effort to become the best version of James,” Ulbrich said. “I’m super hopeful that translates to success, because we all know that we bring that idea that, “I’m on the right track and I gotta keep going on the right track.’”