Falcons tight end Levine Toilolo has one major advantage in the fight to retain his job as starter.
Toilolo, who had a strong training camp before the team broke on Wednesday, has regularly reached out to former tight end Tony Gonzalez for help.
Toilolo, a fourth-round pick out of Stanford in 2013, was a rookie during Gonzalez’ final season with the Falcons and replaced him in the lineup last season.
“I talk to him via text,” Toilolo said. “He definitely has always been there for anything that I’ve needed. Having someone to go to, there is not a better tight end to go to for advice.”
Levine needed him a lot last season as he struggled to catch the football. He caught a touchdown pass in the opener against New Orleans and showed glimpses of becoming the red-zone threat the Falcons’ front-office envisioned when they made the 6-foot-8 player the 133rd selection in the draft.
But then came the rash of drops and the offense moved away from him as a target.
Over the offseason, the new coaching regime determined to revamp the position and signed Jacob Tamme and Tony Moeaki to modest free agency deals. In the first depth chart released by the Falcons, Toilolo was listed as the third tight end.
He did not get depressed at the demotion.
“You can’t really let that affect your mindset,” Toilolo said. “When you come out, you are working to get better and trying to improve on something individually. In this offense, you always have to be ready.”
Toilolo believes he can still find a niche in the offense being implemented by new coordinator Kyle Shanahan, even if he can’t overtake Tamme as the starter.
“Kyle uses multiple tight ends,” Toilolo said. “Whether if you’re one, two, three or four, whatever it may be, I think you have to focus yourself on improving. That’s all that you can do.”
Over his first two seasons, Toilolo has played in 32 games, making 19 starts. He’s caught 42 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns. He’s not going to be a featured pass-catching tight end like Gonzalez, but has shown that his hands have improved in practice.
He caught three passes for 36 yards in the 31-24 victory over the Titans on Friday.
“He has had a good camp,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “Especially nice to see that one catch he had the other night that was down the sideline for a big first down.”
Toilolo worked on his pass-catching over the offseason, sprinkling in some tips from Gonzalez.
“I really just tried to change my mindset and attitude,” Toilolo said. “When you get to this level, at the end of the day, it’s football. I think I got away from that, whether if it was the little things like getting away from the fundamentals of catching the ball.”
He said he has changed his approach.
“I think now, I’m just trying to focus on the little things,” Toilolo said. “(Wednesday) I saw something where my hands weren’t quick enough and I wasn’t ready coming out of my break.”
One of his lessons from Gonzalez: “Each and every day, you have to keep reminding yourself of those little fundamentals that contribute to you making catches,” he said.
A few practices ago, Toilolo was blazing up the field on a seam route and snagged a bullet pass was on the money. He didn’t stop running until the end zone. He believes he can make those kind of plays.
“As a tight end, you kind of take pride in trying to run and stretch the field,” Toilolo said. “If they call that, I’d definitely love being able to get up the seam. Whether if you get the matchup with that safety or linebacker, I definitely love those opportunities.”
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