There were no offseason workouts. A mandatory minicamp didn’t take place. The COVID-19 pandemic limited all communication between players and coaches to video chats and phone conversations.
Yet even with the perceived setbacks in preparation, the Falcons feel they are up to speed with where they need to be entering the 2020 season. Following Friday’s “mock game,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said everything has felt normal thus far on the practice field, with the team two weeks away from its opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
“I feel like being back we haven’t missed a beat,” Jarrett said. “For me, whether it’s a conditioning level or whatever, I feel I’m in the same space that I would’ve been regardless. I was excited to get some extra work in the offseason by myself. As a team, as a defense, we came back where we left off. We just keep building. But the fact we didn’t have an offseason program isn’t an excuse for anybody. This is a professional sport. However things go, that’s how they go. You have to adjust or you have to get on.”
On defense, the Falcons will look to build upon the way they finished the 2020 season. After a 1-7 start, which saw the team rank near the bottom of every major defensive category, the Falcons were 6-2 the rest of the way, which included road wins over the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints. Over the final eight-game stretch, the defense ranked first in the NFL in allowing offenses to only convert 38 percent of their third-down opportunities. Having picked up only seven sacks in the first eight games, the Falcons tallied 21 over the final eight.
Ideally, the Falcons would have been able to continue practicing what worked well during OTAs and mandatory minicamp. Instead, the team was unable to reconvene to the practice field until early August. Training camp didn’t start until Aug. 18, leaving the team with a long layoff from padded football work.
Even so, linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich said the defense has looked sharper than he expected.
“You’d think we’d have been so far behind from that standpoint of our knowledge of the defense and our ability to communicate,” Ulbrich said. “You’d think that would be reflected in a lot of busts and mental errors. But it hasn’t been that way at all. It doesn’t feel any different than any other offseason now that we’ve gotten started, minus the fact we don’t have the preseason games.”
Instead of repping as a team and at practice, players were on their own. Falcons coaches were forced to teach new players the overall scheme and returning players the added wrinkles from afar. If the early positive return translates to wins when the season starts, Ulbrich noted that an element of the virtual learning could continue in future seasons.
“You’d love to have reps and you’d love to have practice, but there’s something to be said about the virtual setting for this generation of players,” Ulbrich said. “This is a generation that is so reliant on electronics. It’s so much a part of their everyday life that there are times I feel like that may be the better way to teach it in some ways.”
Shifting from training camp to regular practice mode Monday, the Falcons feel good about where the defense is at the present time. Defensive end Dante Fowler has earned praise from his teammates with how he’s performed. Safeties Ricardo Allen, Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee have all expressed confidence in the way they will be used in the secondary’s rotation.
Ulbrich said linebacker Foye Oluokun is poised for a big season now that he’s being asked to take over at strongside linebacker, the position played by De’Vondre Campbell over the past four seasons. Campbell signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals in free agency.
“In all honesty, I think Foye is ready for anything you give him,” Ulbrich said. “If Foye’s going to (play on all four special-teams units and as a backup linebacker), he’s going to thrive. If you ask him to be a starter, he’s going to thrive. He’s always going to be prepared. His level of execution is unlike anybody else. His physical ability is really good, too. I’m excited about the opportunity for him.”
One player who has stood out to Jarrett has been second-year defensive lineman John Cominsky, who has been playing defensive tackle in the nickel package and defensive end in the base package.
“It’s been night and day,” Jarrett said. “John has had a great camp, ballin’ out at every position down on the defensive line. He’s a guy who if Coach tells him to do something, he’s going to do it 100 percent. It’s going to get done right. He’s also going to make some big plays.”
Another area where the Falcons will look to improve is in forcing turnovers.
Last season, the Falcons totaled 20 takeaways -- 12 interceptions and eight fumbles -- which tied for 19th in the NFL. There have been a number of takeaways taking place throughout camp, with one notable interception coming from rookie linebacker Mykal Walker off a deflected pass. To assist in this area, cornerback Isaiah Oliver said the secondary has been practicing with the JUGS machine before each practice. Kazee said that defensive backs have placed a greater emphasis on attacking the ball while it’s in the air as opposed to waiting for it to arrive.
The Falcons tied for 24th in the NFL with a minus-5 turnover differential in 2019, a number that Falcons coach Dan Quinn would love to change.
“I would say the defense has done a good job of having opportunities to create takeaways,” Quinn said. “The only way that you get in the plus in that space is by forcing them. I thought, from a mindset for the ball, there has been a couple forced fumbles, a few interceptions. That part, I thought we’ve made progress in that space. We’re working through the ball drills as often as we can.”
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