Falcons safety William Moore plans to continue playing physically and with passion.
“I have to keep doing my thing,” Moore said Thursday. “That’s one of my strengths in playing, being physical. That’s how I like to play, and that’s how I will continue to play.”
He has some supporters in Falcons coach Mike Smith and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. They just don’t want him to cross the line.
“They don’t want it getting to the point where you are getting ejected or being suspended for a couple of games,” Moore said. “We’ve seen that happen around the league. I don’t want to hurt the team in that way. I want to be physical, but I don’t want to hurt my team as far as missing game.”
Moore put a big hit Sunday on Tampa Bay running back Doug Martin in the third quarter. The referees, after reviewing the play, waved off the penalty.
“I was just happy that they pulled the flag up,” Moore said. “The fact that they put it down kind of worried me. I guess it was just a bang-bang play. I’m just glad they took a look at it.”
Moore is appealing fines for hits earlier this season in games against New England and New Orleans.
“Every crew has their own interpretation of what they think is and is not (an offending hit),” Nolan said. “The difficulty for players I think is guys call it different.”
The Falcons don’t want Moore to get labeled as a dirty player.
“Look at the guy in Tampa Bay (Dashon Goldson),” Nolan said. “I haven’t seen any of his hits. I coached that guy with the Niners. He’s been tattooed.”
Moore is mindful of the reduced target area he must hit and the growing definition of a defenseless player.
“William has had to learn,” Nolan said. “You have got to look at your target in now. That is a great rule. It is putting your head down that gets (players) hurt.”
Falcons to face Lions: The NFL announced that the Falcons will play the Detroit Lions in London during the 2014 season. The date of the game has not been determined.
After playing one regular-season game in London in each of the past six seasons and two this season, the NFL plans to play three there in 2014.
The Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders will be the “home” teams for next season’s games in Wembley Stadium.
The trip will mark the first time in franchise history that the Falcons have played a regular-season game outside North America. (They will play their first regular-season game outside the United States on Dec. 1, when they face the Buffalo Bills in Toronto.) The Falcons played exhibition games in Tokyo in 2000 and 2005.
Injury report: Running back Steven Jackson (hamstring) and tight end Chase Coffman (knee) were close to fully participating in practice, Smith said.
Also, left tackle Sam Baker (knee) will return to the starting lineup and replace Lamar Holmes, if he’s cleared by the doctors.
Wide receiver Roddy White (hamstring/ankle), linebacker Stephen Nicholas (thigh) and running back Jason Snelling (ankle) did not practice.
Blocking issues: The much-maligned offensive line will face another stiff test from the Arizona Cardinals, who feature defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, defensive end Calais Campbell and former Falcon John Abraham, who plays outside linebacker.
The line has given up only nine sacks, which is tied for the league lead, but quarterback Matt Ryan has been pressured 92 times, which ranks ninth in the league, according to profootballfocus.com.
“They are doing a good job in the pass game,” Ryan said of his line. “We have to be a little bit better in the run game. But pass-protection wise, they are solid. They are getting better together. Collectively, the more that those guys play with each other, the better they are going to be.”
The Falcons want to see some improvement in their run blocking after rushing for only 18 yards on 18 carries against Tampa Bay.
“I put us in some bad positions in terms of run (audibles),” Ryan said. “But, we also have to get a little better push up front.”
