Miami Gardens, Fla. – Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray said that Dolphins wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle could run the third and fourth leg on a track relay team.
Gray stressed that the Falcons defensive backs play with sound techniques against the speedy wide receivers. He didn’t want them to get to involved with their one-on-one matchups in the joint practice between the teams on Tuesday at the Houston Baptist Training Facility.
During the one-on-one portion of practice, Hill, Waddle, Braxton Berrios and Erik Ezukanma all caught deep balls against the Falcons. Cornerbacks A.J. Terrell and Clark Phillips III dropped potential interceptions after strong coverage.
“We won some battles and we lost some battles,” Falcons cornerback Tre Flowers said.
Backup safety Micah Abernathy had an interception of Dolphins quarterback Mike White to end their two-minute drive at the end of practice. Also, cornerback Breon Borders intercepted Tua Tagovailoa in the end zone.
“It was like a javelin,” Flowers said. “It went right to him. I wish I’d get a couple of those.”
Falcons coach Arthur Smith stayed with the offense and was looking forward to assessing the defense’s play upon film review.
“That’s what they’ve tried to pride themselves on,” Smith said. “They are a smaller team that has clearly got a lot of speed. We’ve got a bigger football team. A little bit of a contrast, but if we want to be aggressive, we have to be able to cover those guys.”
The Falcons tried to follow Gray’s game plan.
“We held up good,” Terrell said. “Just putting our hands on them, trusting our techniques and making plays. Just playing the defensive call that (defensive coordinator Ryan) Nielsen gave us. Just applying it.”
The Falcons wanted to get some work against some different receivers.
“Matchups were good,” Terrell said. “Just being able to see new faces, Tyreek Hill, the whole receiving corps and (Jaylen) Waddle as well. They have a lot of speed over there. So, it was a big difference between our receivers, just from a speed aspect of the game and them just trying to get the ball to their ones.”
Falcons safety Jessie Bates III felt the secondary was respectable.
“I think we responded really well the first day in this Miami heat,” Bates said. “There are obviously some adjustments to that. But we did a really good job coming out here to compete. We knew what they had to offer. A really well coached team in all three phases.”
The Falcons have a hole at right cornerback with Jeff Okudah out with an undisclosed right ankle injury.
Flowers initially went in for Okudah, but on the second day after the injury he split time with Mike Hughes. Flowers was with the first-team against the Dolphins.
Flowers, at 6-foot-3, and 203 pounds, is a bigger corner. Hughes is 5-9 and 189 pounds. The Falcons could use Flowers against a bigger receiver like Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and have Hughes ready for the small, quick wide receivers.
“We mix and match all the time,” Smith said. “That’s the NFL, unfortunately. Guys get nicked up, there’s an equipment issue and they have to come out of the game, and you have to have depth. That’s one thing we’ve tried to build here, and you have to cultivate that.”
The Falcons mixed and matched their defensive backs on the Miami receivers.
“That’s part of building depth, it’s going to happen,” Smith said. “You hate it, you wish no one ever got hurt, or injured or had to come out, but that’s part of, to me, our philosophy of team building.”
The Falcons believe they have built some depth at cornerback, but could have suffered another blow to rookie Clark Phillips III, who was carted off the field with a lower left leg injury.
Flowers, who has played with the Seahawks and Bengals, was signed a one-year contract in May.
Flowers, 27, was a fifth-round pick by the Seahawks in 2018. He has played in 73 NFL games and made 41 starts.
“Tre is a guy that’s played some quality snaps in this league,” Smith said. “He’s got a different skill set. That’s what happens too, a lot of times and especially on critical downs, as you know it’s a matchup league.”
Hughes, 26, a former first-round pick (30th overall) of the Vikings in 2018, signed a two-year contract with the Falcons in March.
He played last season with the Lions, starting six games and playing in 16. He also played with the Vikings (2018-20) and the Chiefs (2021).
“We’ve got guys that we think can uniquely match up,” Smith said. “It may not be the same week-in and week-out. The same thing with our safeties, depending on who they put out there on those critical downs.”
The Falcons played with Fabian Moreau at right cornerback in 2021. Last season, Casey Hayward opened the season as the starter.
This year it looks like Flowers or Hughes could open the season at right cornerback.
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