Just two seasons going, Vic Beasley, despite being the eighth pick overall in the draft, thought he could just blend in a practice.
He’d linger at the back of the line in drills.
Former defensive line coach Bryan Cox would order him to the front.
Beasley has passed that lesson along to rookie defensive end Takkarist McKinley, who was drafted 26th overall and is expected to help provide a pass-rush opposite of Beasley.
“For me, my rookie year, I was kind of in the back of the line just seeing things through,” Beasley said. “As far as from a coaches’ perspective, they want to see you at the front of the line. So, I’ve been encouraging him to make his way to the front of the line because you’re an emerging star player on this team.”
McKinley, who’s recovering from shoulder surgery, received his first live 11-on-11 action Tuesday. He had a sack of Matt Ryan on a third down.
Beasley gave us a film review of McKinley’s first practice.
“It looked good,” Beasley said. “He was able to get a couple of reps in with team plays. He’s going to get comfortable with the plays as things move along and he gets more experience with it.”
Beasley led the league with 15.5 sacks last season, was named first-team All-Pro and won the Deacon Jones award as the league’s top sackmaster.
He loves McKinley’s enthusiasm.
“I can tell that his passion is there and that he just definitely loves the game,” Beasley said. “It’s going to be fun whenever we get out there in the real games when the regular season comes around.”
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