Smith to call Falcons’ defensive signals

“I’ll see how the flow is going too,” said Quinn, who said he’ll reserve the right to jump in. “Then in two-minute and those kind of (situations) and then on third downs, I’ll be involved with that, too.”

Quinn, who was Seattle’s defensive coordinator for the past two seasons, was contemplating calling the plays. The staff worked during the offseason and early in training camp to map out their system.

“It’s been a great mix and match,” Morris said. “Everybody has their opinion. Not only myself, Coach Smith and Coach Quinn, but (secondary coach) Marquand Manuel and we’ve also got (linebackers coach Jeff) Ulbrich. All those guys are a part of what we do.”

The offseason focus has been improving the defense, which finished last in the league. The Falcons are hoping to have an improved pass rush. Toward that end, Smith believes that rookie defensive end/linebacker Vic Beasley has a chance to be a special player in the NFL.

In 1988, former Falcons coach Jerry Glanville, then with Houston, gave Smith his first NFL job and Smith, 59, has seen a lot of action since. He most recently was Denver’s linebackers coach and worked with Von Miller when he was a rookie. Miller was one of two players who were drafted in the top 10 over the past 10 drafts who registered double-digit sacks as a rookie.

Smith believes Beasley is in the same class.

“He’s got tremendous ability,” Smith said. “He reminds me of Von Miller. I think he has an opportunity to be special if he keeps working at it.”

Beasley was off to a great start until a stomach virus knocked him out of practice Thursday. He returned on Friday to play in the Friday Night Lights practice.

“Beasley is doing fine,” Smith said. “He came in here and the other day at practice, he took a really huge hit. I’m really happy that he wasn’t hurt on the play. That’s part of the game. The thing that was impressive to me was that he came back and played hard afterwards.”

The Falcons spent the majority of their financial resources in free agency trying to upgrade the linebacker corps. The major pick-up, Brooks Reed, has been slowed by a hip/groin injury. Justin Durant, O’Brien Schofield and Allen Bradford have all flashed speed and hitting power early in camp.

“Coach Ulbrich, I have a lot of passion for him. I coached him back in the day,” Smith said. “He’s doing a great job with them.”

The preferred lineup appears to be Reed at strongside linebacker, Durant at weakside and Paul Worrilow, the team’s leading tackler the past two seasons, at middle linebacker. But the coaches are shifting all of the linebackers to different spots in what former coach Mike Smith used to call “cross-training.”

“What I like about it is that we’re developing all of them not only at their position, but at all of the positions,” Richard Smith said. “Anytime you do that, you have a better understanding of the entire defense.”

Smith has also been impressed with the respect the players have shown Quinn by keeping the foolishness and unnecessary hits down to a minimum, although there was a brief skirmish on Sunday.

“There hasn’t been a lot of fighting,” Smith said. “Let’s commend (Quinn) for keeping them together. They have been playing hard and taking care of each other from that standpoint. There really haven’t been those collisions.”

In addition to developing a pass rush and getting linebackers in sync, the competition at cornerback has been fierce.

Desmond Trufant is set at left cornerback but the right side and the nickel spots are up for grabs. Robert Alford will likely lock down one of those spots but he’s competing with rookie Jalen Collins and veteran Phillips Adams. Former safety Dezmen Southward is making the move to cornerback. Also, Akeem King and Kevin White are in camp.

Collins has struggled somewhat in his first training camp, but the coaches are not alarmed.

“As a young corner, you see this all the time. You get into this league and guys are faster,” Morris said. “You have to be more crisp. When you’re in practice, you have to go through the growing pains now. It’s better now than later.”

Collins, who’s coming off foot surgery, has tried to weather those growing pains.

“He’s taking it like a champ,” Morris said. “He’s a coachable kid. We love everything about him in the growing process. Hopefully, we can get him going in the right direction.”

William Moore and Ricardo Allen are working the safety spots on the first team defense.

“What we’ve done a great job on the back end is rotating those guys through a lot of positions,” Smith said. “They are playing the nickel. They are playing the corner. They are playing the safety spots. What we are trying to do is get the right fit.”