Falcons left guard Andy Levitre is trying to make the most of a new experience: his first training camp with the team.
Acquired in a trade with Tennessee right before the start of the season, Levitre was immediately tossed into the opening day starting lineup. It was as if coach Dan Quinn stood up in front of the team to say: “Hello everyone, meet Andy. He’s our new left guard.”
Forced to learn on the fly last year, Levitre is outwardly more relaxed this month as he battles to return to his starting spot.
“Training camp is a great time for us to be around each other all of the time and get to know each other better off the field,” Levitre said. “I think that stuff kind of carries over on the field as well.”
Quinn has been pleased with Levitre’s work.
“He’s looked sharp,” Quinn said. “He was battling some injuries when he got here. He’s had a good camp. He’s really fit. He’s strong. He’s healthy. For us, that’s a good sign.”
Last season, Levitre led the team in the least desirous category: 11 penalties and stalled eight drives. He had five holding penalties, four false starts, one illegal block above the waist and one unnecessary roughness on the league’s official penalty report.
Offensive line coach Chris Morgan believes he can help Levitre reduce his offenses and Levitre has focused on the root of the problem.
“You try and eliminate those,” Levitre said. “Those are unacceptable, especially those pre-snap ones. Those are things that you just mentally have to get past. It just comes down to focusing and making sure that you’re locked in every snap.”
Instead of trying to hide or not discuss his negative plays, he has taken full ownership.
“I had too many of those last year and that’s something that I want to work on,” Levitre said. “I’m trying to work on them in this training camp and eliminate those to help us be successful.”
Quinn has noticed a change. Some of it perhaps has to do with the Levitre being more familiar with his surroundings.
“He had some things that he really wanted to work on in the run game, specifically,” Quinn said. “Things in his sets and he’s really applied that. Anytime that you get a chance to go through the whole offseason … here are the things you want to do better in our system and go apply them, it helps.”
The Falcons have been moving around their guards around, but Levitre is clearly in command at left guard while Chris Chester and Mike Person battle for the right guard spot. Rookie Wes Schweitzer, a seventh-round pick from San Jose State, is also being groomed at guard.
“We have a lot of competition inside,” Morgan said. “We are looking at all those guys. Every day is a battle here. Every day is a competition. We try to make it as hard as possible. Those guys are getting shots. We’re going to find the combination of the best five and roll.”
Levitre believes the offensive line unit is coming together. Now he even knows everyone’s name.
“We’ve got a good group of guys,” Levitre said. “We all come out and get our work in every day. We still have a lot of room for improvement. But I like the group that we have. Everybody has the right mindset.”
The requirement in Falcons’ outside-zone blocking scheme is that the line operates in unison.
“It’s all about communication,” Levitre said. “The more that we can get with each other, the easier it is to communicate.”
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