The Falcons will welcome a familiar face to their Flowery Branch facility for the team’s first combined practice of training camp on Monday.
Former Falcons offensive coordinator and current Tennessee Titans tight ends coach Mike Mularkey will join coach Ken Whisenhunt and his staff on the team’s trip to Georgia. Mularkey spent four seasons with the Falcons from 2008-2011.
Falcons coach Mike Smith said he has spoken extensively with Whisenhunt regarding Monday’s rules and that Mularkey is certainly familiar with how the team runs its combined practices.
The Falcons hosted the Cincinnati Bengals for two combined practices last year at their facility in Flowery Branch and held one practice with the Titans in 2012 at Coahulla Creek High School in Dalton.
“If a guy’s in a compromising position, we need to not take a shot,” Smith said. “I think we are very aware of what the rules of engagement are.”
The teams will not tackle, there will be no live sessions and players will be tagging off during the practice. Monday will be the first day of Falcons’ training camp that will not feature an installation session to allow players to work solely on what they’ve practiced to this point.
The quick visit from the Titans should serve as a nice break from the routine for the Falcons.
“They work against the same guys out here every day and they kind of get into a groove,” said Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. “It feels like they know that man’s weight and they know the challenge every play. Going against a guy you haven’t gone against is a whole different deal. You feel that man out. There is a game within a game on every play.”
Monday’s practice comes four days before the Falcons’ first exhibition game Friday in the Georgia Dome against the Miami Dolphins.
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