FLOWERY BRANCH – With a trip to Miami looming, the Falcons elected not to practice on Monday.
They shifted to holding meetings and then planned to travel later in the day.
The Falcons are set to practice against the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday and Wednesday before they play their exhibition season opener at 7 p.m. Friday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith is looking forward to practicing and playing the Dolphins. The two teams held joint practices in 2021. The Dolphins finished 9-8 and went to the playoffs last season where they loss to Buffalo 34-31 in the wild card round.
The Falcons finished 7-10 last season and have posted five consecutive losing seasons.
This will be a good early exhibition season test for the Falcons.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for those guys and a lot of coaches on that staff,” Smith said. “The coordinators and Chandler Henley who was (with the Falcons) our first year down there. We expect it to be a good cooperative practice, no (expletive). So, it’ll be good.”
Henley was the Falcons assistant offensive line coach in 2021 before being named Miami’s assistant quarterbacks coach in 2022.
Smith likes the controlled nature of joint practices and a chance to evaluate the roster.
The Dolphins’ overall team speed will provide the Falcons with a good test.
“Just a couple of different schemes and get to practice against somebody and get to evaluate,” Smith said. “They’re a pretty fast team and you aren’t going to be able to sack the quarterback so some of those throws, we’ll see if they get to be live or not, but we’ll get a lot of good work out there.”
Smith and Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel have agreed on some parameters. The Falcons practices with the Jets last season opened with three fights before the coaches settled things down.
“We went down there two years ago, and it was excellent with Brian Flores (as head coach),” Smith said. “With Mike, but really talked a lot with (offensive coordinator) Frank Smith, (defensive coordinator) Vic Fangio and Chandler, so we feel confident and are excited to go down there.”
Offensively at lot the focus will be on quarterback Desmond Ridder, running back Bijon Robison and left guard Matthew Bergeron.
While Miami suffered the loss of cornerback Jalen Ramsey to injury, they signed veteran cornerbacks Eli Apple and Perry Nickerson. They also have Xavien Howard, who had just one interception last season after having 15 over the previous two seasons.
Ridder has ended two of the last two-minute practices drives in training camp with interceptions by safeties Richie Grant and Jessie Bates. Brandon Jones and Jevon Holland are expected to be Miami’s safeties and could form a strong tandem.
“We’ll have our hands full with coach Fangio,” Falcons offensive coordinator Dave Ragone said. “I’m sure he’s going to have some surprises for me. Over the 20-something years I’ve known him, I’ve beat him in golf every time. .. I’m sick of giving him 18 strokes a round. Let him know that. I’m sure after that quote we’re going to get everything he’s had over the last 30 years.”
The Falcons are pleased with Ridder’s progress in training camp.
“Every day, it’s real simple with all of the quarterbacks,” Ragone said. “Each day we pick something out that they need to get better at. It’s not, hey let’s complete every ball. That’s not what ... we’re in training camp. .... Ultimately we want to be able to go out there … see if we can improve .. .and by the time the season starts, you’re ready to go.”
Robinson was the eighth player taken in the draft and has had a fine training camp.
“Anybody who gets a helmet, the expectations are the same if you’re a veteran or if you’re a rookie,” Ragone said. “Just like Bijan or any other rookie that’s lined up, we have standard and we want them to operate that way.”
For now, the Falcons are willing to live with some mistakes.
“We just want guys to make sure they go out there with the right mindset, which is if I make a mistake don’t make another,” Ragone said. “Don’t make the same one twice. Let’s go out there and play with energy. That’s ultimately what you’ll see from a lot of the guys.”
Defensively, the Falcons’ revamped secondary will be stressed by Miami’s passing attack which features quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
“It’s good on good,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “See how you come out. You get to go against some new blood. It’s refreshing. At the end of the day, we have to play the game. Just go out there and do what you do. I like the joint practices.”
