FLOWERY BRANCH -- After a day off, the Falcons returned to the field for the first padded practice of training camp on Monday.
Here are five things we learned:
1. Punt off: The Falcons had punters Bradley Pinion and Seth Vernon get some directional punting work.
Pinion had hang-times for 4.72 (right direction), 4.55 (left) and 4.87 (left). We couldn’t get the distance from behind the drill.
Vernon, an undrafted rookie from Portland State, had hang-times of 4.33 (right), 4.70 (right), 5.05 (right) and 3.65 (shanked to right and low).
Last season, the Falcons settled on veteran Dustin Colquitt after Cameron Nizialek got off to a shaky start.
2. 7-on-7: In the 7-on-7 passing drill in the redzone, quarterback Marcus Mariota was 3 of 5 and Desmond Ridder was 2 of 3 with touchdown passes to Damiere Byrd and tight end Feleipe Franks.
3. Edwards out, Smith back: Wide receiver Bryan Edwards, who fell on his shoulder and had to leave practice on Saturday, did not practice on Monday. Edwards is expected to be fine.
“Fell on that shoulder,” Falcons general manger Terry Fontenot said. “We’ve taken a look at it. We’ll see where he is. No update at this point.”
Fullback Keith Smith returned to practice after the birth of his son.
4. Deion Jones update: Linebacker Deion Jones, who had offseason shoulder surgery, remains on the physically unable to return list.
“We haven’t put a timetable on it, but he’s working with the trainers and getting himself ready,” Fontenot said. “When he is, he’ll come out and compete.”
The Falcons have revamped the linebacker position. Jones was second on the team with 137 tackles last season.
“You can ask that question about any player on the roster right now at any position and we’d answer it the same way,” Fontenot said when asked about Jones’ long-term future with the team. “We’re always trying to build the roster the right way and every decision we make it going to be to the betterment of the team as a whole. With any player, we have 90 players on the roster, you ask that question, and we’d answer that in the same way.”
5. Offensive line: The competition along the offensive line will get more scrutiny now that the pads are on.
The Falcons opened their first padded practice with Drew Dalman at center and Elijah Wilkinson at left guard in place of Matt Hennessy and Jalen Mayfield, who both started last season.
“There are things that he is doing that we are pleased with and doing it the way we feel it needs to be done,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said when asked about going with Wilkinson over Mayfield. “So, I think it is a good thing for Jalen to see if he can step up. Like I said, competition brings out the best in everybody and we’ll see where it goes. I’m not down on Jalen, but it’s more that we are more pleased with what Elijah is doing right now.”
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