Falcons coach Dan Quinn worked out linebacker Sean Weatherspoon on Tuesday before he signed for his third stint with the team.
“The workout went terrifically, he really had explosion and burst and that’s really what I wanted to see,” Quinn said on Wednesday. “When you have lower leg injuries the question is the burst going to come back like you want.”
Weatherspoon suffered a torn Achilles after the fifth game last season with the Falcons.
“In this case, we thought him having some extended time for the rehab was good,” Quinn said. “It’s been over a year since he had his injury. He was hopeful to make it back for training camp, but when he wasn’t signed there, we thought an extra month and a half, two months, was important for him.”
The Falcons don’t plan to rush Weatherspoon into the lineup.
“We’ll start him back in the process here at linebacker,” Quinn said. “We don’t know how long it will take for him to get ready. But we are just going to start today.”
The Falcons plan to cross train Weatherspoon.
“Both of the two inside spots,” Quinn said. “It’s kind of what we were able to do with him last year. (Middle) and (weakside linebacker) prior to his injuries. We’ll start him inside and then we’ll see where we go from there. LaRoy (Reynold) will be back shortly as well.”
Weatherspoon was drafted in the first round (19th overall) of the 2010 draft. He played with Arizona in 2015 before returning to the Falcons last season.
“He’s a guy who’s a leader who brings energy and juice,” Quinn said. “He’s a good tackler. When the injury (to rookie Duke Riley) took place, it was good timing for him and for us and he’s a guy we trust and respect a bunch.”
Quinn was pleased with Weatherspoon’s workout.
“I had spoken to him on the phone, but I hadn’t see him,” Quinn said. “He said, ‘I’m in shape.’ He was trying to test me. I said, ‘Ok, we’ll see.’ Then, I saw him first and I said, ‘Man, you look good.’ Then we put him through the workout and he kept responding to that.
“Now, I want to see him practice and play. The terms we use is football shape …how long is that going to take, I don’t know. It’s going to take more than a day or two to get ready to play.
“He’s ready to go. I was impressed with how fit he was and how strong he looked. You can tell that he’s been working out.”
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