The Falcons will practice in pads for the first time Monday and the uniform change will go a long way in determining the final roster. It will be the closest to “real” football the Falcons have gotten through the first three full days of training camp.
The offensive and defensive lines will be under the most scrutiny.
“The calibration of our roster definitely indicates that (the offensive and defensive lines were) an area we wanted to address,” coach Mike Smith said Sunday. “We’ve gotten bigger and stronger on both sides. We’ve added new players through the draft and through free agency and the guys who are returning are bigger and stronger.
“It’s going to be scrutinized every single day. I think you’ll see the depth chart will change, maybe not on a daily basis but every couple of days. We want to look at as many combinations as we can.”
Even in pads, Smith said there will be no cut-blocking in the practice. However, coaches and management will be better able to evaluate players when they are not wearing shorts and a helmet.
“We are getting as close to we can get to playing real football ( Monday),” Smith said. “It’s going to be a great evaluation, especially for the interior players on both sides of the line. We’ll get a true evaluation starting (Monday). You can’t go off of one day. You can’t go off of three days. That’s why we have four preseason games before we play our first regular-season game. We are looking forward to watching those guys compete, not only in the lines but across the board.”
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