FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons special-teams coordinator Marquice Williams knows that his units likely will play a key role when the Falcons (3-4) face the Saints (5-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Caesars Superdome.
He’s welcome the play of veteran Daren Bates, the return of punt returner Avery Williams and the play of gunner Kendall Sheffield.
Here’s what he had to say about the matchup:
On Saints returner Deonte Harris: “He’s a great return with the ball in his hands. He’s very fearless as a runner when he’s going north-south with the football are going east and west. He has the speed to get around coverage units. And he’s fearless in a way where he could catch the ball in traffic as a punt returner and get north-south immediately with the football in his hands. And he does a great job, too, of breaking arm tackles. So, he looks to create plays, you know, create a spark for their offense and flip the field when it comes an opportunity.
More on the 5-foot-6, 170-pound Harris: “But he runs bigger than the size. He runs bigger than the size. It’s going to be a great challenge for us this weekend and our guys are looking forward to the challenge of going out there and you know being brilliant with out basic fundamentals when it comes to leveraging the football and tackling.”
On New Orleans punter Blake Gillikin, who was named the NFC’s special-teams player-of-the-month award for October: “Coming out of Penn State, he was down last year. So, technically this is his rookie season. He’s doing a great job of getting the ball out, directional punting and then also too, their protection units when it comes to punt pro, they do a good job protecting for him to give them a clear pocket. Their gunners whether it’s JT Gray or it’s Ty Montgomery going downfield and forcing fair catches on making plays on the returner. So, you know punting coverage working together. They are doing a really great job.”
On how the Falcons units are coming along after adding Bates: “It just comes back to making the most out of our roster. Moving people around and getting the best out of what we have on the roster. Our guys continue to get better with reps. There’s some plays that we left on the field last week, but it’s a great learning tool for us last week to look at the film, come back and see what we can put on the field this week. You know whether it’s Bates, whether it’s having Avery Williams back on the field, you know, moving guys around and Kendall Sheffield was going down there making plays and forcing and fair catches as a gunner. It’s a good collective group with those guys playing together and being able to have a feel for one another and getting that continuity going with that with that group.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
For more content about The Atlanta Falcons
Follow me on Twitter @DOrlandoAJC
On Facebook at Atlanta Falcons News Now
Atlanta Falcons coverage on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons’ 2021 schedule features trip to London, January trip to Buffalo
Atlanta Falcons Schedule
Bye Week
Next Four Games
Falcons at Saints, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 7
Falcons at Cowboys, 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14
Patriots at Falcons, 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18
Falcons at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28
About the Author
