Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel spoke to the media on Wednesday.
Here’s what he had to say on five key topics:
1. On tackling presentation. The Falcons are ahead of the curve with teaching the proper tackling drills. He showed several big hits where the Falcons led with the shoulder and not their helmet. He also showed several clips of them teaching the technique is slow motion in practice. "We have to make the game safe," Manuel said.
2. On the defense. The Falcons defensive improved from 27th to eighth in scoring defense, 25th to ninth in total yards, 17th to ninth in rushing yards and 28th to 12th in passing yards last season.
“We are going to be relentless,” Manuel said. “We are going to be tough. We are going to be smart. When we say being intelligent, that’s doing my job 1,000 percent of the time…..what are we going to do to help win a championship?”
3. On playing 70 percent nickel. The Falcons nickel is really their base defense.
“This game is a passing league,” Manuel said. “Understanding that teams have tight ends, when they are in 12 or Tiger (personnel), these guys can run. You (must) have skilled guys able to cover them. The game is evolving. There are times when you play teams that still have the fullback and they get the running back the ball. You have to be prepared both ways. It’s a balance between the two.”
4. On Beasley moving back to defensive end. "That's one of the things we are excited about. That consistency that we can get from him…last year… Vic made a sacrifice to help us all out. He played multiple positions for us to go up. You guys said that we got better. Little did they talk about that he was a big part of that. The ability to do certain things that when we were playing him at linebacker that helped us out."
5. On the rookies. It's a big early, but Marquand was asked if any of the rookies stood out.
“I wouldn’t just say one,” Manuel said. “There’s a combination. All of these guys came in from the first meeting, these guys have been hungry. I’m not just giving you the playbook version of my answer. These guys have been hungry. They have been consistent. Guys coming by your office before they should, sometimes walking with their breakfast in their hands just...to see the coach. Guys that are taking being a professional serious.”
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