ON THE FALCON BEAT

Ben Garland to start at right guard against Dolphins

January 30, 2017, Houston: Falcons guard Ben Garland flashes a Super Bowl towel as he takes the stage for Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
January 30, 2017, Houston: Falcons guard Ben Garland flashes a Super Bowl towel as he takes the stage for Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017, at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Aug 8, 2017

Ben Garland will start at right guard in the Falcons’ exhibition season opener at 7 p.m. Thursday against the Miami Dolphins.

“I think that’s fair,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “Coming into camp both him and Wes (Schweitzer) were right in the middle of it.”

Garland and Wes Schweitzer are battling to replace former starting right guard Chris Chester, who retired over the offseason.

“We could have went either way with it really, but I felt Ben was the one we named coming into training camp based on his experience of playing last year,” Quinn said. “That’s why we went that way. But both of them should see about the equal amount of time. We’ve got to get a good evaluation on these two guys.

“Ben will start it off, but we’ll get great evaluations on Wes as well.”

About the Author

Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.

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