In the regular-season opener, one of the intriguing matchups will be the Falcons cornerbacks against the Vikings receivers.
The Falcons, who are trying to rebound from a 7-9 season, play the Vikings, who are trying to rebound from a 8-7-1 season, at 1 p.m. Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Falcons cornerbacks Desmond Trufant and Isaiah Oliver, who spent some of the offseason working both sides of the field and traveling some with receivers, will face Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
Trufant, who had a strong exhibition season, is trying to rebound from an uneven 2018 campaign.
“Trufant has really had a tremendous camp,” Falcons defensive passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson said. “He’s played really well. He’s playing with tremendous confidence. He’s playing right now, like one of the top corners in this league. I just want Tru to be Tru. Play with that confidence and that swagger that we saw in (the exhibition) season.”
Oliver, who takes over for Robert Alford, will make his first NFL start.
“He’s been up to the challenge,” Henderson said. “He’s a very bright young man. If you have a conversation with him you’ll see that he has tremendous intellect and tremendous understanding of the game.”
Oliver is able to diagnose formations and down-and-distance situations quickly.
“Then you add his poise,” Henderson said. “The thing that stands out with me is that he’s one of those people that is real steady. He’s never going to be really frazzled. He’s either going to be steady and poised and he’s going to play hard.”
Alford had a penchant for drawing holding penalties and defensive pass-interference penalties. The Falcons are banking on Oliver’s composure on deep routes to eliminate those penalties.
“He’s got great poise and length down the field,” Henderson said. “I think that’s going to bode well for him as a player for us.”
Thielen and Diggs are both coming off 100-catch, 1,000-yard seasons.
“When you just look at all of their skill positions, they’ve got a talented offense,” Henderson said. “You look at the two wide receivers, they are problems.”
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