Falcons coach Mike Smith is scheduled for a stress test on Friday at Emory Hospital, but remains guarded about his physical condition and still doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.
Following Sunday’s Falcons-Carolina game, Smith, 52, had chest pains and was taken to a Charlotte hospital before the team’s charter flight left for Atlanta.
The coach had undisclosed tests and arrived home at Monday at 3 a.m. He was at the team’s facilities around 3:30 p.m. and held a team meeting at 4 p.m., and hasn’t had any drawbacks since.
"He feels fine," said Reggie Roberts, Falcons vice president of communications.
On Thursday night, Smith took the field at the Georgia Dome nearly an hour before kickoff to watch his team go through their pre-game warm-ups. He appeared relaxed and ready to go.
Smith has said he was “embarrassed” about addressing his health situation.
The Falcons coach said he will make some lifestyle changes, but doesn’t plan to change his coaching style, and has offered little else. Like most coaches around the NFL, he has been known to spend a few nights at the practice facilities. He has his own room in the team’s dormitory.
Dave Archer, former Falcons quarterback and a radio broadcaster, was on the plane with Smith. He talked about the coach's situation on his Archer and Bell Show on 790 The Zone.
“He wasn’t feeling well, they decided to keep him up there; better safe than sorry,” Archer said on Thursday. “If it had been a regular work week, he would have finished all of his tests on a Monday, but he didn’t want to take a battery of tests over six hours and miss one of his prep days.”
Archer said Smith’s delay in having medical tests would seem to indicate there was no sense of urgency surrounding the coach’s health.
“That alone will tell you that his doctors signed off on that, so that’s not something to be concerned about, that something is going to happen to him on the sideline [Thursday night],” Archer said. “If they felt like he was in dire straits, he would have had those tests. In fact, he wouldn’t even been coaching [Thursday] evening.”
With Smith as coach, the Falcons are pursuing their third playoff berth in four seasons. He signed a three-year contract extension in February after originally agreeing to a four-year contract worth $8 million to $10 million.
Mularkey audition?
If Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey were auditioning on Thursday night for the vacant Jacksonville head-coaching job, he had an impressive showing.
With Jack Del Rio dismissed by the Jaguars, Mularkey and former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman are on the short list as replacement candidates, according to a recent ESPN report.
Mularkey wants to be a head coach again. He was the Buffalo coach in 2004-05 and posted a 14-18 record.
Mularkey and Bill Musgrave, who left last season to become Minnesota's offensive coordinator, have been lauded leaguewide for their fast development of quarterback Matt Ryan, and for turning the Falcons' offense into one of the league's top units.
Mularkey is attractive because of his background in coaching power football. Jacksonville also needs someone to develop quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who is struggling in his first year in the league.
White red hot
Falcons wide receiver Roddy White was nearly unstoppable in the first half with seven catches for 90 yards and a 6-yard touchdown catch.
He went over the 1,000-yard receiving mark with an 18-yard grab in the second quarter. His touchdown catch marked the fourth consecutive game in which he’s caught a touchdown.
White, with 75 catches entering the game, became the eighth receiver in league history to turn in four consecutive seasons of 80 catches and more than 1,000 yards receiving. He became the first Falcons’ receiver with five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
No huddle, no problem
The Falcons used their no-huddle offense during two drives in the first half against the Jaguars.
On their second possession of the game, they ran the no-huddle for 5 of 9 plays during a 43-yard drive that ended with a Matt Bryant 33-yard field goal. On the next drive they sprinkled in some no-huddle before punting.
During their second-half comeback against Carolina the previous Sunday, the Falcons were in the no-huddle attack for four of seven drives. They scored two touchdowns, a field goal and had a three-and-out series.
Injury report
Linebacker Stephen Nicholas, who missed the past two games with a quadriceps injury, returned to the starting lineup.
Falcons defensive tackle Corey Peters limped off the field early in the second quarter. The doctors looked at his right knee and put a brace on it before taking him to the locker room.
Peria Jerry took over for Peters at the tackle spot next to Jonathan Babineaux. Peters returned with 8:04 left in the second quarter.
Stopping Jones-Drew
Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew entered the game as the league leader in rushing with 1,222 yards on 277 carries (4.41 yards per carry), and had seven rushing touchdowns.
He broke loose for a 43-yard gain in the second quarter before safety William Moore tackled him. Jones-Drew had eight carries for 74 yards at halftime.
Before the Jacksonville game, Houston's Arian Foster was the lone running back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Falcons.
The Falcons’ run defense was ranked fifth in the league and gave up 95.2 yards per game before facing Jones-Drew.
Etc.
Jacksonville's Will Rackley, from Riverdale High School and Lehigh, made his 12th start in the game against the Falcons. … The Falcons' captains for the game were Ryan, Julio Jones, Eric Weems, Curtis Lofton and Sean Weatherspoon. … The inactives for the Falcons were quarterback John Parker Wilson, cornerback Brent Grimes, cornerback Kelvin Hayden, linebacker Spencer Adkins, offensive linemen Brett Romberg, guard/tackle Kirk Chambers and defensive end Cliff Matthews.
About the Author
