Falcons linebacker coach Glenn Pires, who’s overseeing the daily development of rookie Brian Banks, believes he is making progress after being out of organized football for more than 10 years.
“He’s taken advantage of the offseason,” Pires said after a Monday morning walk-through. “He’s progressing well, like all of the other young guys.”
Pires said he was not surprised by Banks’ play thus far in training camp. Banks, who was exonerated of criminal charges in May 2012, is attempting to make the team after not playing since high school.
“I think he’s on schedule,” Pires said. “I think that’s the best way I can describe him right now. He had a good offseason. He works hard. He’s very conscientious and ready to compete when we get ready for the preseason games.”
Banks has spent most of his time at middle linebacker, but is also being taught other linebacker positions.
“We are all interchangeable, which is what we do,” Pires said. He believes that Banks is on par with the other rookies who all played college football.
“I think they are all the same,” Pires said. “I don’t want to shortchange any of the young guys. We are all in this together. He’s progressing well, the young guys are progressing well. I think it’s a very healthy situation.”
Rookie cornerback update: Defensive backs coach Joe Danna is charged, along with secondary coach Tim Lewis, with developing rookie cornerbacks Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford.
“It’s never easy to be a rookie. That’s for sure,” Danna said. “Especially when you’ve got to go against the wide receivers we go against every day. Those guys are competitive. They’ve embraced it. So far, so good.”
Naturally, he expects them to struggle at times.
“That’s a tough position, maybe the toughest of all,” Danna said. “When you’re out there by yourself at times, the task can never be easy.”
Over the past five seasons, the Falcons have started all of their top draft picks early in their careers. They clearly have Trufant and Alford on the same fast track.
“The thing that we can do the most is get them reps and they’re getting plenty of them right now,” Danna said. “That is definitely not the problem. They go against tough competition every day. So, they are getting challenged.
“There are growing pains there. They have their successes. They have their downfalls, but (we have to) get them the reps, keep teaching them with film and in the classroom.”
Fans attending the open practices have taken to Twitter to blast the rookies when they make a mistake. Danna is not alarmed.
“Sometimes, like any corner, you have to get beat to learn your lessons,” Danna said. “That happens, but they are getting their share of wins too.”
Weatherspoon update: Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, who had offseason knee surgery, is fully recovered. He missed portions of the offseason program before participating in the final minicamp.
He hasn’t missed a practice in camp.
“What’s great about Spoon is he’s never satisfied where he’s at. He is improving and he knows the things all the guys look at, what happened last year, and they want to improve,” Pires said. “They know what they want to get better at and that’s what he does well. When he first came in, (he) said, ‘I got to get better at this, get better at that.’”
Pires also said that linebacker Stephen Nicholas, who had offseason sports hernia surgery, is moving well.
Bartu shining: Linebacker Bartu Joplo, an undrafted rookie free agent from Texas State, has turned a few heads.
“I’m real cautious with that because we are waiting for the other color jerseys (opponents) to show up, which will be soon,” Pires said. “Him, along with Brian and (Nick) Clancy, they are progressing well and all working together. That is all going to work itself out down the road.”
Jackson hits 30: Running back Steven Jackson celebrated his 30th birthday on July 22nd. That's the unofficial age when NFL running backs start to decline, some quicker than others.
“I don’t worry about it at all,” Jackson said. “When you see numbers like that, people are throwing out average scenarios because it’s a trend. As I’ve said, each generation has a running back who breaks the mold and I truly believe I’m that running back in this generation to break the mold.”
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