On the first day of the Falcons minicamp, coach Dan Quinn surprised the team with a pass-or-fail exam.
He pulled his assistant coaches off the field, yanking the safety net from under the backups and reserves trying to make the team.
“We want to stress them out as much as we can, honestly,” Quinn said after Tuesday’s workout. “That’s the game that we live in.”
With no assistants on the field, the players had to demonstrate that they knew the nuances the playbook. Normally, coaches are behind the players, yelling instructions and adjustments. But with the staff on the sidelines, the players were left to show what they knew.
“(Being on the sideline) is not the same,” Quinn said. “So we want to make sure and actually find out what they know.”
Grades: not so bad.
On one offensive play, quarterback Alek Torgersen, an undrafted rookie from Penn, didn’t like what he saw on a pass play. He pulled the ball down twice before running outside and throwing the ball away. He may been spooked by ghost coverage or a bad route.
Later, Torgersen bounced back to hit wide receiver Reggie Davis on a deep pass for a long gainer.
“Man, am I impressed with the rookie class and how far they’ve come in one month’s time,” Quinn said. “It’s a huge time for us to assess where they are at in terms of their knowledge offensively, defensively and on (special) teams.”
Normally, Quinn waits until the third day of minicamp to pull the coaches off the field.
“We felt like we were ready to find out about this group,” Quinn said. “They put their best foot forward. We are going to do it each day. Keep the coaches on the sideline and substitute and go through a normal game.”
The Falcons also brought in referees to call penalties during the 11-on-11 portion of practice. There were several flags.
“It was terrific having the game officials here today to go through the whole process,” Quinn said. “Procedure penalties, moving the ball back and going through the whole thing.”
Quinn called out several performances.
“Offensively, I was very pleased with the running game today,” Quinn said. “We saw (Brian) Hill, we saw (B.J.) Daniels carry. Offensive line, I’m anxious to see more of those guys. There is a big group that we played in two spots.”
There were some standouts on defense as well.
“Defensively, it was good to see (defensive end) J’Terius Jones as a pass rusher,” Quinn said. “He’s somebody who has caught our attention.”
Coaches are still juggling players in the secondary.
“We tried some different people in the secondary at different spots,” Quinn said. “We learned a lot today. We love the versatility that we’ve created with guys at different spots.”
The Falcons also had a big emphasis on special teams.
“We devoted some extra time toward that, especially in punt. We wanted to get a better look at different guys at different spots,” Quinn said.
Wide receiver Andre Roberts and Justin Hardy are the leaders to win vacant punt return job. The team’s former returner, Eric Weems, signed with Tennessee in free agency.
“I was particularly encouraged by the kicking today,” Quinn said. “I thought Matt (Bryant) looked great and Mike (Meyer) did a nice job as well.”
Shortly before the minicamp’s first practice, the Falcons released linebacker Darius English and gave defensive end Martin Ifedi a tryout.
English, the former South Carolina and McEachern High product, wanted to move on with his life. Ifedi had been with the Falcons for parts of the past two seasons.
First-round pick Takkarist McKinley can join the team when UCLA’s quarter ends Thursday, meaning he’ll miss the minicamp.
Wide receiver Julio Jones (foot) and defensive end Adrian Clayborn (biceps) worked on the sideline while reserve offensive lineman Trevor Robinson has been excused from the offseason program to deal with a family issue. He’ll return to the team for training camp.
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