5 things we learned at Day 3 of Falcons training camp Friday
FLOWERY BRANCH -- The Falcons held their first open practice and had fans on the hill Friday.
“We were introducing third downs and adding situations,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “We are trying to get these guys ready to play.”
More than 3,400 fans requested tickets. A much larger crowd is expected for Saturday’s session.
Here are five things we learned:
1. One-on-one: The skill players went against the defensive backs and linebackers during the team’s one-on-one passing drill. Here were a few of the highlights.
-- Quarterback Desmond Ridder overthrew a fade route.
-- Wide receiver Bryan Edwards caught a nice back-shoulder fade from Marcus Mariota.
-- Tight end Feleipe Franks did a nice job of working to the middle of the field to get open, but dropped the pass.
-- Running back Cordarrelle Patterson ran a nice wheel route on linebacker Mykal Walker and was open, but the pass was overthrown.
-- Wide receiver Drake London won an early matchup with cornerback Casey Hayward, but later dropped a ball.
-- Safety Erik Harris had a pass breakup while covering tight end Parker Hesse.
-- Tight end Kyle Pitts got open against safety Richie Grant, but Grant recovered to knock down the pass.
2. High-point drill: Grant and the safeties were working on high-pointing the ball and getting both feet down along the sideline.
New safety Henry Black is wearing jersey No. 36.
3. Returners: The Falcons’ returners continued to catch balls off the machine.
The group of returners included Patterson, Avery Williams, Cameron Batson, Dee Alford, Corey Ballentine and Jared Bernhardt.
4. 11-on-11: Mariota, who was off during the one-on-one passing drills, bounced back in the 11-on-11 session later in practice.
Pitts, London and running back Damien Williams made a few nice catches.
“Really good,” cornerback Isaiah Oliver said of London. “Big body. Great ball awareness. Good routes, for sure. But really his catch point is kind of what makes him special. We saw a little bit of that today and yesterday.”
5. Pads on Monday: The Falcons will complete their first block of four practices Saturday and have Sunday off.
They will put on the pads for the first time Monday.
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About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
