Wide receiver Reggie Davis and safety Quincy Mauger, the only players from the University of Georgia on the Falcons’ 91-man roster, are off to a good start early in training camp.
Davis and Mauger both were signed as undrafted rookie free agents after the draft.
The speedy Davis, with wide receivers Julio Jones and Taylor Gabriel limited from 11-on-11 action, has received snaps with the first-team offense. Mauger has been around the ball during live action.
“I’m just working on being patient,” Davis said. “I’m trying not to rush everything. I’m just working on little stuff in my game.”
Jones likes to coach-up the young players on the sidelines. Davis has been soaking up the information.
“They always tell me to be patient at the line because I have the speed to get by people,” Davis said. “I have to be patient at the line to make it easier and create more space for myself. That will help me get open better.”
Jones, who missed the offseason after foot surgery and is being eased back into practice, has been coaching up the young receivers all offseason.
He likes that Davis listens to him, much like he used to listen to Roddy White.
“With him, he’s a very talented guy,” Jones said. “He’s a young guy with great speed and is a competitor. His things are just being able to get off the ball, how to get off, how to run routes, and staying tight to defenders. It’s just small things because he has it all, but it’s the attention to detail and those smaller things. Once he does those and cleans them up, he’ll be a great player.”
Jones is trying to teach Davis how to use his speed at the pro level.
“When you are a fast guy like that, a lot of times the defense will back up because they’re nervous of your speed,” Jones said. “The big nightmare is don’t get beaten over the top. With every route you run, you have to threaten them deep and show them ‘Hey, I’m going on a go (deep).’ Then, it’s just building up his strength and his ability to stop when he’s running full speed like that. It will create a lot of separation for him.”
The Falcons, who are off on Monday, have had two practices in pads.
“It was hard to adjust to,” Davis admitted. “You are at the top level, the biggest level. The first day out here, I was kind of nervous. As you adjust to it, you get more comfortable with it.”
Falcons coach Dan Quinn believes the competition at wide receiver will be fierce.
“I thought Reggie Davis had a good day (on Friday) and then I felt Deante Burton came on a little stronger today,” Quinn said. “Then where does Josh Magee fit in? It’s a back and forth battle.”
Davis is going to get some action in the early exhibition game.
“His opportunity is now here,” Quinn said. “He can really go. He had a nice catch on a deep ball. When guys prove that they can handle it and have a bigger role, we give them more reps. I don’t know if you noticed the quarterback was who threw him that pass today, but it was Matt Schaub.
“He is off to a good start and doing some good things. We have a long way to go and part of his game is finding that versatility and the different things he can do, but he has our attention.”
Mauger has picked up the defense quickly.
“We have been impressed by his intelligence, his ability to communicate, and his athleticism,” Quinn said. “Everyone’s evaluations get ramped up over the next few weeks when we get into the (exhibition) season games and how do we respond under that stress.”
Now, the Falcons know they can place more on Mauger’s plate.
“We’re trying to stress them out to see what situations we can put them in to see how they will respond,” Quinn said. “We try to make these game-like scenarios and have them perform. That’s why we have the crowd noise. It was awesome having the fans yell (on Saturday) so those two guys are off to a good start.”
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