Here’s what Falcons coach Dan Quinn had to say after the final day of minicamp on Thursday:
Opening Statement:
“That was an accumulation of our offseason which we’ve done an extraordinary amount of work from the free agency process, draft process, team coming in, the way we changed how we work out together, some of the ways we do our meeting structure, onboarding new players into the system, and then kind of culminated this week with the camp. We really tried to feature a number of the young players today. I don’t know if you saw or not, but in the two minute we had Trufant calling the defense and Matt Schaub during the two minute session. In the move the ball portion, offensively, Matt Ryan called the plays and Paul Worrilow did. It was just another way to change things up and put those guys in a different spot to help with the learning and the understanding too. It was a great session. The guys have put in the work and now we’ve told them rule number one is absolutely in affect and that’s protecting the team. There’s a number of things for them to work on as they go home, but making sure that connection that they have with one another stays strong. They’ll be in touch. Oftentimes, a number of them will work out together, but when we come back to camp when we report everybody’s got to be on point and protecting the team is the number one priority.”
On what he was most pleased with during this camp:
“Very few mental errors, which is something that you’re always looking for as a coach. We threw a lot at them. We tried to find who had the versatility so who could play more than one position. We had some SAM’s play LEO and LEO play SAM’s. We moved [Courtney] Upshaw around today. We wanted to see if outside receivers could play inside, so having that versatility was probably the big thing. We played some of the linemen at three different spots. [Tom] Compton played both tackles and guard. [Wes] Schweitzer played all three inside spots so finding that versatility amongst the new players especially was really important. Next to that, I would say there’s a real bond by the team. They feel it with one another together how hard they’ve been working. They feel it with the fans and the community here. I’d say those are probably two things; how tight we are as a team, and then the versatility that we’re going to have.”
On what the biggest change in the team is from a year ago to now:
“In a word, I’d probably say relentless. It was one of the words that we talked about at the start of the offseason and that never backing off attitude always going for it. Having that as a mindset, which I think goes a long way so we’ve gotten physically stronger and we also got mentally tougher during this time and session together. So relentless for us is one that we’ve been talking about a lot.”
On any injury news:
“No injury news to know. The players who reported back and were able to participate in some fashion Chris Chester, Grady Jarrett, and Tyson Jackson will be back participating at full at training camp. Nothing to update in that way.”
On how important it is to have Matt Schaub backing a guy like Matt Ryan up:
“Matt Schaub has been a real addition for us through the offseason. There’s a real calming presence as you can imagine for a guy who’s played as many snaps as he has. When we had the opportunity to add him on board we thought it would be significant for us because he adds not only experience within the system, but just the knowledge that he has that he can pass along not just to quarterbacks but to other members of the team.”
On Matt Schaub and Matt Ryan sharing ideas:
“It’s important for all the quarterbacks because so many of those times you look for that guy that’s right next to you, so whether it’s Matt Schaub or Matt Sims. So as we’re going through that connection amongst teammates is important at every position, but I think it’s even more so at quarterback because they’re literally trying to see the same thing on every play. They’re kind of coaching one another so having that kind of bond and that type of connection is important.”
On how Keanu Neal’s transformation into an NFL player is coming along:
“We haven’t seen the part of his game that shows up like that physical style he plays with, but what we can see is the mental quickness and the speed that he plays with. We track all of the plays that he was targeted on whether it was zone or man and throws to his side. He’s really been on point. We knew the learning part was going to be important one over that short window that we get with the rooks. He’s worked extremely hard getting ready and now over the next four and five weeks how fast can he get those smallest of details down so when we hit the field at the start of the preseason we’re counting on him to have a huge role for us.”
On whether it’s possible to have three rookies in the starting lineup week one:
“They’ll decide that as we go through the process.”
On whether he’s seen enough so far to give him a vibe:
“We’ve put them right with the group. We’re anxiously seeing what they can do. Each step is a little challenge. Being with the first group in the OTAs, that’s a nice challenge. Then doing it with the pads on when we come to training camp against one another that’s a challenge. Then when we get into the preseason games that’s the third part, so they’ve passed the first part of the test, so to speak. Then the next part will come at the start of camp and then the end of the preseason games where we’re doing live tackling and some calls that we’re not playing against the offensive people that you’re familiar with. We’re really thrilled with the development of those young guys. It was great to see [Austin] Hooper get his chance to get some catches today. He had a few yesterday and some more today so we’re thrilled with the class. They’re putting in the work and that’s how their earning the respect of their teammates by the mindset that their bringing.”
On what he saw from Keanu Neal in the three days:
“I think it’s been an overall, not just the three days that jump out to me. I think the first few days like you’d expect the learning maybe a hesitation and then now the elimination of the doubt of the assignment of how quickly he can close. It’s the speed and burst that he plays with was probably a little stronger than I had thought. So you can tell he put the work in to say he had the traits that we were looking for and now that he has the quickness to play zone defense we’ve seen him matched up on man-to-man against the tight ends and the backs. We’ve got some hard matches to go against. That part of practice that we go against one another like you can see how difficult it is a match-up on [Devonta] Freeman and Jacob Tamme. For him getting to go against them and Campbell as well I thought has been a real plus. We’re just trying to find out as much as we can about him and those two in the coverage aspect are answering to go.”
On Grady Jarrett:
“In our system we move more so than traditional 34 teams. That’s what makes our nose tackle because we want to have that versatility. From district ball to now that interior line takes a lot of couples, whether you’re on the move like we are, where we’re a one gap team, where we can penetrate a little more, or where you’re playing 34 where you’re more sturdy and two gapping. We know Grady is strong and he plays with good quickness so we’re anticipating seeing what he can do.”
On the communication offensively:
“There are very few mental errors that took place during this camp and through the OTAs. As a coach those are always the things that you’re looking for like how many buffs do we have and that’s the challenge, especially for new players and young players. How fast can you get acclimated to the language, to the terminology? That’s the challenge for them. That’s why I’ve been pleased with [Mohamed] Sanu, Alex Mack, and Derrick Shelby in terms of their understanding. I feel like that communication has been good. We’ve stressed it hard from coach to coach, coach to player, and player to player. It’s been a big part of what we’ve tried to emphasize this offseason. The guys have worked at it hard.”
On how he views Jalen Collins situation going into the season:
“Oftentimes you have players who get injured and I’ve been in the scenario before where we’ve had players that have missed time not due to injury, and that’s generally how I look at it where when you lose a player you’re disappointed. Then you make your contingency plans and we have that all the time, so there’s been some really good competition at the corner spot not just with one or two guys but [DeMarcus] Van Dyke, C.J. Goodwin, Brian Poole, and Akeem King are a few that we’re just trying to find out more about and we’re putting them in different spots to find out what they can do if they can play inside and outside and looking for that consistency for somebody to rise up and say I can handle it all the time and not flashes at a time so that’s the message that’s been sent to the guys who are competing for the third, fourth and fifth corner spot for us.”
On how he feels to Vic Beasley’s adaptation to his new role:
“I think it’s pretty natural because it’s so similar to the role he played last year. I think quite honestly there was a lot made of it because, ‘Oh man, it sounded like this really big change.’ I didn’t have the very best way to articulate it, but I think some of the guys who have been here locally got together and talked about how our defense plays and how similar the SAM linebacker and the LEO is, so I think once we did that we kind of disarmed a lot of people locally to say nope he’s still going to be a real factor rushing that’s why we drafted him. It was not so far out of his comfort zone that it was real far into him. He picked it up. He’s one of our best athletes on our team so that part added to the value of the position, not diminished it.”
On whether he sees him growing as a pass rusher:
“I wouldn’t say it’s growing, but I would say there’s going to be a real definitive plan of how we’re going to do it. Learning a lot as a rookie he did and as a pass rusher it can be challenging knowing how to rush. Different guys have different styles so knowing who you’re playing against what their susceptible to is really important, and I think for rookies they don’t have the real appreciation for how hard I have to study you. Once you get to that spot where each week you’re going through your plan of how to attack it helps. He’s gone through that process now. He’s had an outstanding offseason and I can anticipate making some more strides. He’s doing his part over the summer to make sure he’s getting ready. He’s completely dialed in to get that part of his game in order.”
On how important it is for Mohammed Sanu and Julio Jones to work with Desmond Trufant:
“Isn’t that cool to see? The guys working against one another and kind of sharing some of the things that are hard and challenging. I think that’s the ultimate sign of a teammate and respect is that they compete against one another so hard at practice that here’s a chance to share some knowledge inside. It takes some humility to do that. Am I giving away some of the secret sauce? Could be, but I’m not surprised that those three teammates want to share that with one another.”
On whether there was another position group that shocked him:
“A group that caught my attention was our offensive line. The way they compete for one another. That group has totally put the work in and it shows so for them there’s going to be some battles along the offensive line spot. I’ve been really pleased with that group. I’ve seen the work that their putting in and how hard their going for it. There’s a real connection amongst them and we’re trying to make that line of scrimmage just every year in the front of our thinking. That offensive line group is putting it out.”
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