ESPN analyst Jon Gruden, who will call the Falcons season-opening game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 14, has been studying the team.
After watching the three exhibition games, he has not been impressed with the rushing attack and called out the offensive line when asked about meek line play around the league.
“I hope that they are better than they played against Miami,” Gruden said on Wednesday. “They’ve got to play better to get this running game going. To get this quarterback to a level where he can play at.”
The Falcons gave up six sacks and eight quarterback hurries against the stout Miami defensive front.
Line play around the league has been spotty. Gruden believes you can trace it to the reduced number of padded practices and the lack of two-a-day practices. Basically, teams can’t block because they don’t get to practice it as much.
“I think there are a number of offensive lines that I’ve seen that can play better,” Gruden said. “I would call out Atlanta first because because I’ve studied them the most.”
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