Foye Oluokun got on the field because of injury.
And he hasn’t come off.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn has been pleased with the play of rookie linebacker Oluokun, the sixth-round pick from Yale.
Upon the return from injury of middle linebacker Deion Jones, Oluokun has remained in the lineup, mostly at weakside linebacker.
Oluokun played 27 of 65 snaps (42 percent) against the Packers last week. He played 52 of 81 snaps (64 percent) against the Ravens.
“He has the length to guard tight ends and long arms and the speed to match up against tight ends,” Quinn said on Wednesday. “Much like De’Vondre (Campbell) that’s an important part of (his) game.”
Against the Packers, Oluokun was 40 yards down the field, running stride for stride with tight end Jimmy Graham on one route. He broke up a potential long-gainer late in the first quarter.
“The thing that I admire most about his game and him as a linebacker, you’ve heard (Hall of Fame general manager) Ron Wolf talk about that, he plays square,” Quinn said. “That’s true as a linebacker, when you’re at the line of scrimmage and you’re square, you can go downhill. When he hits, he can really thump.”
During the pre-draft process and when Keanu Neal was injured, the Falcons considered playing Oluokun at strong safety because of his ability to hit.
“That was one of the topics that we discussed,” Quinn said. “But we saw his future at linebacker, so I didn’t really want to take a step back in the development for him, but that was definitely something we considered.”
Oluokun has played in 13 games and has made four starts. He has 76 tackles, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits.
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