Amid the purge of the Falcons’ wide receiving corps, Kerry Meier has been the forgotten man.
He took the field during the team’s Friday Night Lights “modified scrimmage” at Norcross High and starred until the event ended early because of lightning.
About half of the crowd, which was announced at 13,500, quickly left while others held out hope the Falcons would return to field after the stormed passed.
In the passing drills, Meier, who was cleared to practice July 26, planted his rebuilt right knee, made a hard cut and caught a pass from Matt Ryan.
Meier, a fifth-round draft pick in 2010, also dove for a pass, showing that he’s not overly concerned about the knee.
“Kerry is doing great,” wide-receivers coach Terry Robiskie said.
During the offseason, the Falcons decided to rebuild depth at the position behind All-Pro receiver Roddy White. They elected not to re-sign Brian Finneran, made the big draft-day deal to select Julio Jones and released former starter Michael Jenkins.
If Meier, the all-time leading receiver at Kansas, can return to the form that he showed in last season’s training camp, the Falcons have a big role ready for him.
“He’s going to have to fall in there and play all of the spots,” Robiskie said. “He has to back up Roddy, Harry [Douglas] and Julio. If we go to four wides, I need him. If we go to five wides, I need him.”
Robiskie believes the new practice rules that don’t allow for two-a-day padded-practices are helpful to Meier’s recovery.
“When you have had that knee surgery, it’s going to be sore for a minute,” Robiskie said. “He’s doing good.”
The team tried to play after the delay, but the lightning came back. The Falcons signed a few autographs, shot off some fireworks and headed for their four buses for the short ride back to Flowery Branch.
“We’ve had a great first week of practice,” Ryan said. “Julio and Jacquizz [Rodgers], on the offensive side of the ball, have done a great job.”
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff thanked the crowd and invited them to attend the exhibition opener Friday against the Miami Dolphins at the Georgia Dome.
“We really want to see our players step up and get physical in that game,” Dimitroff said. “We have a very tough and hard-nosed football team.”
The session basically was like a regular practice, but the club was set to let some of the reserves scrimmage for 15 to 20 plays.
The Falcons opened the scrimmage with some special-teams work. Jones received wild applause from the crowd when he was announced as one of the returners.
The all-out scrimmage that fans have witnessed in the past was a victim of the new practice rules in the collective bargaining agreement, according to coach Mike Smith.
After the special-teams session, the Falcons worked on some offensive situations, including their third-down plays.
They were set to go to seven-on-seven drills, one-on-one pass-rush drills and red-zone offense before the weather turned bad. Fans were hoping to see newly acquired defensive end Ray Edwards in action in those pass-rush drills.
“I appreciate all of the people in Norcross for having us,” Smith said.
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