Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is clearly putting his stamp on the team’s unit.
Shanahan, who will call plays from the sidelines in the team’ exhibition opener at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Georgia Dome, has his flip cards and barks at receivers when they are supposed to plant a foot and make a hard cut.
“He’s very precise with depth and alignment,” wide receiver Julio Jones said.
Jones, Roddy White and Leonard Hankerson have caught the wrath of Shanahan, but his main target has been rookie Justin Hardy, who’s having a strong camp.
Shanahan is trying to implement a new offensive scheme in his first season with the Falcons.
“It’s always a work in progress,” Shanahan said. “You throw a lot at them. You do it in OTAs. You do it again in training camp.
“It’s a lot easier in training camp than it was in OTAs because it’s not their first time hearing it. We are not where we want to be yet and you always want to keep getting better.”
The offense suffered a setback when running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman went down with hamstring injuries last Wednesday and Thursday. Both are expected to miss two to four weeks.
The Falcons will have Antone Smith, Terron Ward, Jerome Smith and Michael Ford at running back agains the Titans.
Shanahan’s mission to improve the running game and balance out the offense took a major hit with those injuries.
“Obviously, you’d like to have all of your guys up,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “When a guy goes down, you have to adjust. You want them on the practice field, but it’s part of the deal. Sometimes you get nicked up. You have to adjust and adapt.”
Running backs coach Bobby Turner plans to develop all of the backs.
“They are still competing,” Turner said. “I want to get them all to a level where there is not a major, major separation. But Freeman has really been playing hard and outstanding.”
Turner was elated to see Antone Smith perform well at the team’s Friday Night Lights practice.
“He’s very important to the whole team,” Turner said. “He can contribute and help us on offense and that’s what we are trying to do.”
While the rushing attack is under construction, Shanahan knows he has the potential for a strong passing attack.
“Just physically, I’ve always loved Julio coming out of college and I’ve always known how talented he is,” Shanahan said. “Just to be around the guy who is as explosive as he is and can still break down, cut and attack the football… .His toughness. The guys doesn’t take plays off. His physically tough and mentally tough. He’s very fun to coach. He makes you a better coach.”
He’s also a Roddy White supporter.
“I’ve been a fan of Roddy’s my whole career,” Shanahan said. “He really came to this camp ready to go. You can tell that he worked really hard throughout July. He’s in great shape. He’s running hard. He’s put himself in position to have a great year.”
Leonard Hankerson, Carlton Mitchell and Nick Williams all played for Shanahan in Washington or Cleveland and are familiar with the passing attack.
“Anytime that you’ve played in this system, you have an advantage because you’ve done the stuff and you know the coaching points,” Shanahan said. “They had a little bit of an advantage in OTAs. The other guys are starting to catch up.”
The offensive line is where the Falcons are doing a great deal of experimentation. While Jake Matthews and Ryan Schraeder appear set at left tackle and right tackle, the interior position are still up for grabs.
“Hopefully, we come out in Week 1 and that’s our group,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully, that’s not the first week they’ve been playing together.”
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