Veteran offensive guards Danny Isidora and Bryan Witzmann were signed to the Falcons’ practice squad Wednesday.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith said that “all options were on the table” at left guard after a poor debut by rookie Jalen Mayfield. Rookie Drew Dalman and veteran Colby Gossett were listed behind Mayfield on the team’s official depth chart that was released Tuesday.
“We brought some guys here on the practice squad,” Smith said. “We’ll continue to look for options. We’ll continue to (work on) improvement. Some of these guys are rookies.”
Mayfield started against the Eagles after veteran Josh Andrews suffered a broken hand and was placed on injured reserve. The Falcons had not planned to start Mayfield, who was drafted in the third round out of Michigan.
Mayfield played mostly right tackle in college and needed time to convert to guard. But Andrews’ injury pushed Mayfield up the depth chart. Dalman was selected in the fourth round out of Stanford.
“Some of these guys are rookies,” Smith said. “We have to fix issues if it doesn’t change. There is no secret there. Some of the rookies, going through their first NFL start, going against a pretty good front and some pretty good players, let’s see if you can go in there and correct it, but we also have options, too, if that’s not working.”
Smith and offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford will keep working with the rookies.
“That’s part of my job,” said Smith, who played offensive line at North Carolina. “That’s what we get paid to do.”
Isidora and Witzmann would have to learn the offense quickly to get promoted from the practice squad to help against the Buccaneers, who the Falcons face at 4:05 p.m. Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
The Falcons also signed defensive lineman Mike Pennel to fill out the practice squad at 16 after releasing kicker Elliott Fry, wide receiver Juwan Green and tight end David Wells on Tuesday.
Isidora, 27, who’s 6-foot-3 and 306 pounds, was drafted by the Vikings in the fifth round (180th overall) of the 2017 NFL draft out of Miami. He has played in 25 games and made six starts in the NFL. He’s spent time with the Vikings, Dolphins and Chiefs.
Overall, he’s played 490 NFL snaps, including two snaps last season with Kansas City.
Witzmann, 31, who’s 6-7 and 320 pounds, has played in 40 NFL games and made 20 starts. He has played for the Chiefs, Bears and Panthers since entering the NFL in 2014 out of South Dakota State.
Witzmann has played 1,421 NFL snaps, including 877 at left guard for the Chiefs in 2017. He has not played an offensive snap since the 2019 season. He played three snaps on special teams for the Chiefs in 2020.
Pennel has played in 91 games for the Packers, Jets and Chiefs over the past seven seasons. He played in 14 games with the Chiefs last season.
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