If all goes as usual for the Falcons, quarterback Matt Schaub won’t play in a regular season game for them. Starter Matt Ryan last missed a game when he sat out Weeks 12 and 13 during the 2009 season, his second in the league, and has endured through lots of hits over the past three seasons.
But if Ryan’s injury luck should run out this season, the Falcons have Schaub in reserve. In his first exhibition game since returning to the Falcons Schaub was 10-for-15 for 179 yards, including a pair of big plays to wide receiver Aldrick Robinson.
Schaub returns to the Falcons after he served as Michael Vick’s backup during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
“It was good to get back out there,” Schaub said. “It was good to be back in the Georgia Dome. My teammates made a lot of great plays, and that was the key. The guys up front protected well.”
In three series with Schaub under center the Falcons scored a touchdown and two field goals. Schaub connected with Robinson for pass plays of 47 and 68 yards. His 47-yard pass to Robinson set up the first Falcons score, a 24-yard field goal by Matt Bryant, and the 68-yard completion led to a touchdown.
Robinson was on the Baltimore roster last offseason before being released before the regular season. Schwaub was the reserve quarterback for the Ravens.
“I worked with him a lot last year so we just picked up where we left off,” Schaub said.
Schaub, 35, showed that he still has plenty of arm strength on his 68-yard pass to Robinson,.
Schaub let go of the ball at the Falcons’ 20-yard line. The ball floated over the head of Washington cornerback Quinton Dunbar and found Robinson at Washington’s 26-yard line—54 yards through the air.
The play was set up by a bootleg play-action rollout, which features prominently in offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s system. Shanahan was on Houston’s staff from 2007-2009 with Schaub as the starting quarterback.
“We used our movement game with keeps to get a big play to Aldrick down the field,” Schaub said. “The guys on the outside made plays.”
The Falcons signed Schaub to a one-year contract for $2.75 million with $500,000 guaranteed. His salary ranks about mid-pack for reserve quarterbacks but no team other than the Saints spends more on quarterbacks than the Falcons, who are using about 15 percent of their salary-cap dollars on Ryan’s deal.
Sean Renfree relieved Schaub in the third quarter and completed a 48-yard pass to Eric Weems on his first attempt. Matt Sims is the other quarterback vying for what figures to be one backup QB spot on the active roster.
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