Falcons coach Dan Quinn will put the team through its first of three scrimmages during training camp Thursday.
With no exhibition games, the scrimmages will be used to evaluate players and get ready for the season. The Falcons are set to open at home against Seattle on Sept. 13.
“As those are happening, some of the individual roles for the team will start to develop over the next two weeks,” Quinn said. “There are days like today when we’ll get good evaluation on the players. Some at the same spot. Some at different spots and have special teams factor into it.”
The Falcons have not tackled to the ground in recent years of training camp, but will have to to get ready for this season.
“Tackling certainly will be one that we’ll have do some as we’re getting ready to ramp up,” Quinn said.
Last season, the Falcons simulated a game over two days in a Red vs. White scrimmage.
“Each step along the way will be a little bit more, a little bit more,” Quinn said. “We’ll just have to stack and get a good foundation in place and stack it again. Today’s a good first step on our first scrimmage. We’ll have three of them over the next three weeks. Kind of like parts of (exhibition) games. We are trying to simulate some of those moments.”
The rosters will be scrambled.
“Our depth charts are kind of fluid, but you can call it ones vs. ones and twos vs. twos,” Quinn said. “Then special teams mixed in there. So, if there’s a stop on a third down, we’ll get to a punt. If there’s a score, there’s going to be a PAT and a kickoff. The good news about this is whatever role you are playing, it’s going to get evaluated.
“If you’re covering a kick, can you beat a single block? If you’re on kickoff return, can you secure the returner? Can you handle people in traffic.”
Quinn believes the team came back in good physical condition.
“They’ve put in good work, now it’s about getting their football legs underneath them and their communication right,” Quinn said.
The Falcons started 1-7 last season and 1-4 in 2018. They are looking to come out of the gate much stronger in 2020.
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