On the third day of training camp Wednesday, the Falcons will have a partially padded practice.
“We’ll have an acclimation for that,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “We’ll probably do a half or a quarter of the practice in pads. Half with. Half without. We’ll build up into that with hopes of over the next two days in pads, we’ll get a better look at some of the things we need to see, too.”
The Falcons don’t want to go straight to a fully padded practice with the hopes of sparring some injuries. Two players, safety J.J. Wilcox and defensive tackle Michael Bennett, were injured in the first practice Monday.
“What we’ll do is, we’ll have the first portion of practice that will be in pads,” Quinn said. “It will be the first time that I’m doing that, but studies have shown that most of the injuries happen on the first two days of the pads. Not just us, but the whole NFL.
“I’m going to take a different approach with this portion is padded and this one is not. We’ll kind of build up to it.”
The Falcons are worried about some of the younger players trying to impress the staff.
“I did tell the team that the same way that we take care of each other in practice in July is the same way that we should take care of one another in January,” Quinn said. “They should feel alike.”
Position-by-position series: July 8: Special teams | July 9: Safeties | July 10: Cornerbacks | July 11: Linebackers | July 12: Defensive line | July 13: Quarterbacks | July 14: Offensive line | July 15: Wide receivers | July 16: Tight ends | July 17: Running backs
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