FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons were in a bind after quarterback Marcus Mariota was benched last season, and he left the team to have knee surgery.
The Falcons would have preferred for Mariota to stay around to help Desmond Ridder through his first starts in the NFL.
Instead, the Falcons turned to Logan Woodside, who was with Falcons coach Arthur Smith in Tennessee, to come in as the second-string quarterback.
Woodside, who played at Toledo, is back in training camp with the Falcons and is set to see action in the exhibition season.
“He deserves those opportunities,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “I’ve been with Logan for a long time, and he’s come a long way. He’s a really interesting guy, a really smart guy. Obviously, he lit up the Tuesday/Wednesday night action back in Toledo.”
Woodside tossed a nice pass up the left side of the field to wide receiver Slade Bolden in practice Saturday. He later was intercepted by DeMarcco Hellams to end the third team’s two-minute drill.
“What you love about Logan (is that) he’s a competitor,” Falcons offensive coordinator Dave Ragone said. “He knows what he’s supposed to do. He stays on top of his details of the game plan. He comes out here every single day with the fire to compete.”
The Falcons also signed Taylor Heinicke as a free agent to back up Ridder.
“It’s been great,” Woodside said. “It’s a good QB (group). We’re just trying to work hard for each other and get better.”
The new group is working to establish a bond.
“With Des and Taylor, we obviously have a lot of similarities, I feel like, but also we are at different points in our careers,” Woodside said. “With Taylor being the oldest and (Desmond) the youngest guy and me in the middle. It’s just been good to bounce ideas off each other and obviously staying together in the dorms has been great to have some time together. It’s been good.”
Woodside got to know Ridder last season down the stretch. He believes Ridder is off to a good start in camp.
“Just taking command of the offense,” Woodside said. “I think he was doing a great job of that last year as a rookie, which I think is very hard to do as a rookie. I think he just continued that throughout the offseason and through OTAs and into training camp.”
One of the reasons for Smith to reach out to Woodside was because of the relationship he developed with Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
“I tried to try to model everything I could after Ryan,” Woodside said. “Just from being a pro, how to watch film, how to carry myself off the field, on the field and in the meeting room. I really learned a lot from that guy. I give him a ton of credit for taking me under his wing at that point in my career.”
Woodside now is trying to pay it forward by helping Ridder.
“Now, I think it’s helped me just to be able to do a little bit of that for Desmond,” Woodside said. “I’ve been around this league for a little bit now. I can share my experiences with him.”
The quarterback rotation for the exhibition games is not set, but Woodside is expected to get the bulk of the action.
“(Exhibition) games are big, but I’ll try not to make it too big,” Woodside said. “Still go out there and use what we’ve been doing in practice. Then once the games come around, just go out there and have fun and try to win a football game.”
Woodside has a command of how the Falcons’ offense will attempt to operate.
“It’s the weapons, obviously, and just getting the playmakers the ball in space,” Woodside said. “Whether that’s Bijan (Robinson), (Cordarelle Patterson), Kyle (Pitts) or Drake (London). We’ve got a ton of guys that make it a lot easier on the quarterback.”
Woodside has been impressed with the rookie Robinson.
“He’s a quiet guy who doesn’t talk a whole lot,” Woodside said. “So, we’ve kind of been in the dorms trying to get him out of his shell a little bit, which has been fun. He carries himself like a pro … super talented.”
The NFL approved a new rule at the spring league meeting to allow clubs to dress a third quarterback without using an active roster spot on game day.
Woodside would need to have a strong exhibition season for the Falcons to decide to carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.
“To see where he’s at now at this point – and not being with him for a season and three quarters, however long it was until we got him back – he’s in a different place,” Smith said. “I think he had a good spring, and so far it’s translated. He’s doing a nice job. It’s a really cool story, and we’ll see where it goes.”
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