Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan knows there’s a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time for the offense.
The unit look shaky in the opening scrimmage on Thursday and will get another crack at the defense on Monday.
The season opener against Seattle on Sept. 13 is just three weeks away.
“We still have a long way to go, for sure,” Ryan said on Sunday. “But the effort, intensity and guys attention to detail has been very good. We need to keep that up so that we are ready to go.”
The timing is off on the passing routes. Also, two main cogs, center Alex Mack and running back Todd Gurley, played sparingly in the first scrimmage.
Quinn was pleased with Ryan’s offseason work with the receivers and that showed early in training camp. They were playing fast and executing their route combinations.
“We’ve got some work to do on some of the back-end of things that you’re not able to do in those (offseason) moments,” coach Dan Quinn said. “But I thought their timing and accuracy – especially (tight end) Hayden (Hurst) – being a new person into the system, this spring was especially beneficial in the summer for him and Matt and some of the guys to get connected.”
The Falcons are also trying to work in rookie Matt Hennessy at left guard. They also have veterans guards James Carpenter and Jamon Brown as insurance.
“Just to keep at it,” Ryan said. “I think Dan has a really good format for us in terms of working in three-day blocks to get ourselves ready for what the regular season is like for us.”
Ryan is confident that things will start to click. Ryan said the players’ effort, intensity and focus levels are high for the condensed training camp.
“I think that’s the trick,” Ryan said. “We have got to keep that focus. Keep that intensity up and make sure that every opportunity that we get to be on the field to get work done that we are making the most of it.”
The offense is trying to improve the rushing attack and pass protection. The Falcons were the 30th ranked rushing team in the league (85.1 yards per game) and gave up 50 sacks and 135 quarterback hits last season.
Oh yeah, and the penalties.
“The No. 1 thing is we have to be more disciplined,” Ryan said. “Whether if its procedural penalties that kind of knocked us off schedule, those aren’t from lack of an effort or anything like that. It’s a lack of discipline.
“For me, that’s the No. 1 thing more so that any of the other things, we have to remain incredibly disciplined in terms of our mental output week-in and week-out.”
Time is of the essence and Ryan likes that fact.
“I think the level of intensity because we don’t have as much time has been higher for sure,” Ryan said. “We’re only maybe two weeks into actually practicing on the field and typically that first two weeks of camp is somewhat intense, but there’s a lot of figuring things out in install where you’re going through this slowly and that just hasn’t been the case.”
Ryan said the installations sessions of the plays they want to perfect have been large.
“We’ve been trying to get those, everything that we have in as fast as possible so that we’re working everything we can,” Ryan said. “You can feel the intensity on the field of guys understanding that there’s not seven or eight weeks to get ready.
“It’s three weeks from today that we’re playing for when it counts. I kind of like that portion of it. I like the intensity on the field every day that people are a little bit chippy and has a little bit of an attitude out there. I think that’s been good for us.”
Ryan isn’t stressing too much as he’s set to enter his second year with offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who’s on his second stint with the team.
While the Falcons have question marks and timing issues, Ryan knows he can lean on wide receiver Julio Jones. He called Jones the premier wide receiver in the NFL.
“I’m thankful that he’s in our locker room and I’ve been able to play with him for coming up on 10 years,” Ryan said. “I’ve said it a number of times, but he is the most humble, hard-working superstar there is, and the absolute best teammate you could ask for.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
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