FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons hosted the Jaguars for a padded joint practice Wednesday.
Here are 10 quick takes from the first practice:
1. Deion Jones back: Falcons former Pro Bowl linebacker Deion Jones (shoulder surgery) returned from the physically-unable-to-perform list.
2. Seven-on-seven: Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota was sharp in the first seven-on-seven drill early in practice. He completed his first seven passes. His eighth pass was intended for Damiere Byrd in the end zone, but it sailed high. He finished 8-of-9 passing.
Quarterback Desmond Ridder went deep on his first pass. Wide receiver Bryan Edwards twisted his body to get to the ball but couldn’t pull it in. Ridder’s third pass was dropped by tight end Feleipe Franks.
Ridder connected on his next five passes, with the last one being a touchdown pass to Cameron Batson. On his final pass, tight end Kyle Pitts drew an interference call. Ridder was 6-of-9 passing.
3. Special teams: The Falcons and Jaguars did a punt coverage drill in which two blockers tried to stop a defender from running down to cover a punt.
Olamide Zaccheaus and Mike Ford were a formidable vice duo for the Falcons. Corey Ballentine and Stanley Berryhill also were good, with Ballentine getting a knockdown block.
4. Punter Bradley Pinion: Punter Bradley Pinion boomed his final punt, with a hang time of 4.9 seconds.
5. A.J. Terrell held back: Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell didn’t participate in a lot of the 11-on-11 action. Darren Hall took his place. Also, running back Avery Williams worked some at cornerback.
Coach Arthur Smith said Williams was cross-training for emergency situations.
6. Matt Hennessy’s day: Matt Hennessy worked with the first-team offense at center.
7. Red zone: At the start of the red-zone period, Ford batted down a Trevor Lawrence pass in the end zone that was intended for Marvin Jones. He later broke up a pass from quarterback Jake Luton intended for Laquon Treadwell.
8. Rushing the passer: The Jaguars’ pass rush gave the Falcons’ quarterbacks some issues. Because of their length, the Jaguars blocked several passes.
9. Devin Lloyd practiced: Jacksonville linebacker Devin Lloyd practiced. The first-round pick (27th overall) from Utah had been out with a hamstring injury.
10. Inside linebacker rotation: With Jones back, Rashaan Evans and Mykal Walker worked with the No. 1 defense. Troy Andersen and Dorian Etheridge worked together, and Jones and Nick Kwiatkoski worked together. Nathan Landman rotated in.
“That competition is real,” Smith said.
