The Falcons do believe in second chances, just ask strong safety Damian Parms.
The promising prospect was immediately released on Aug. 13 last season after women was found in his dorm, a blatant violation of team training camp rules.
But the Falcons liked Parms, who played at Florida Atlantic, so they brought him back in 2016.
He’s following the rules and is trying to make the most of his opportunity.
With the injury to strong safety Kemal Ishmael, Parms will get an opportunity to shine when the Falcons (1-0) face the Cleveland Browns (0-1) at 8 p.m. Thursday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Parms is listed as the third strong safety behind Keanu Neal and Ishmael.
“He’ll have a little bit more of an extended role in this game with Ish not participating, so you’ll get a little chance to see Parms more,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said on Tuesday. “That’s the cool part of these (exhibition) season games, opportunity is now here for some of these guys.”
Parms played 13 snaps against Washington and tied for the team-lead with five tackles and had a forced fumble. Ishmael and rookie linebacker Deion Jones also had five tackles.
Parms played 10 plays on special teams and made one tackle.
“I’m going to get my opportunity for sure, like everybody will,” Parms said. “When I get in there, I’m just going to capitalize on every opportunity that I get.”
Parms, a native of Miami, played in 43 games for Florida Atlanta and had 186 tackles and three forced fumbles. The Falcons re-signed Parms on March 15, 2016.
“Going back all the way to last year on the evaluation, we thought he was a nice sized safety, who had range and could cover,” Quinn said about giving Parms a second chane. “So when we brought him back through to the offseason, we wanted to see if that would stay true.”
Parms hasn’t had any issues as the team had their last training camp practice Tuesday.
“He’s very hungry,” Quinn said. “He’s a guy who wants to go and compete. He’s done a good job on (special) teams so far.”
He’s been working on his game with hopes of making the jump to the NFL.
“The biggest adjustment of course has been the attention to detail,” Parms said. “That’s probably the biggest adjustment that I have went through making that transition. Coming from Florida Atlantic, we don’t face a lot of ACC or SEC schools, but do get our chance to face. When we do, we have to very attentive to the details. That’s the difference between being a pro and being in college.”
Parms doesn’t plan to press over the remaining exhibition games. The Falcons must cut down to 75 players by Aug. 30 and to 53 players on Sept. 3.
“Just do what I can,” Parms said. “Do what I’m supposed to do. Do my job basically and try to do more than what my job requires. My motive is to come out and get better every day and hopefully that will win me a spot on this roster.”
