Thomas DeCoud hopes to return to Pro Bowl form

He’s not playing hurt, nor has his body been invaded by aliens or something else weird or creepy.

“No, there is nothing wrong with me,” DeCoud said.

But he’s aware that he’s playing below his own standard, particularly when making tackles.

“I would say that the tackling thing is a thing of regaining confidence in tackling and not thinking about it too much,” DeCoud said. “If you put a little too much emphasis on it or really harp on it, it becomes kind of hindrance.”

DeCoud also has taken some wicked angles to the ball.

“Just making sure that my footwork is sound, and my angles will be better with sound footwork,” DeCoud said.

DeCoud and strong safety William Moore provide the Falcons’ last line of defense. If they don’t make a play, there’s usually a bad result for the defense.

Falcons coach Mike Smith talked about “challenge plays” in Miami’s game-winning drive. DeCoud didn’t win his challenge on the third-and-2 from Atlanta’s 49. Miami’s Brandon Gibson caught a pass on the short right side of the field. DeCoud made the tackle after a 10-yard gain, but didn’t win the challenge.

“There are times when you are basically covering someone, and they have an opportunity to catch the ball, and you’ll live with it because you’re hoping that the blitz or the pressure gets there before the ball gets out,” defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. “Therefore, you take a little different approach.”

But this was a situation where the Falcons were playing coverage and wanted to deny the catch with a pass breakup or an interception.

“Late in the game or at any time in the game when you’re trying to deny the ball, you want to get off the field,” Nolan said. “So, allowing someone to catch the ball and if you don’t tackle them before the first down, you haven’t accomplished the goal.”

Nolan is counting on DeCoud to come around.

“Oh, for sure, it’s only three games into the season, and although he did start very fast last year as far as some ball disruptions and all of those type of things, Thomas is a very good player,” Nolan said. “It’s early in the season, and hopefully he gets back on his game here quick and we start to win as a team.”

DeCoud and strong safety William Moore, who also went to the Pro Bowl last season, are close. They bounce things off one another as they try to navigate those rough patches of the season.

“He’s one of the leaders on this defense, so there isn’t much you can say to a veteran as far as things he doesn’t know already,” Moore said. “He’s come to me numerous times and has said ‘I’ve got to pick it up.’ There isn’t much that I have to say to him.”

Moore senses that DeCoud is close to a return to form.

“I trust every bit of him, and that’s what makes us a good combination,” Moore said.

The Falcons practice tackling on dummies once and sometimes twice each week, but they don’t do any live tackling because of injury concerns. Moore, who leads the team with 27 tackles, has offered DeCoud some tips on the missed tackles.

“I always said tackling is attitude,” Moore said. “I really don’t know how you can practice tackling. We’ve been tackling since pee-wee football. When you run up on somebody, you have to have that attitude of getting them down.”

After allowing the Dolphins and second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill to drive 75 yards over 13 plays for the game-winning touchdown, things don’t get any easier for DeCoud. He’ll attempt to rebound against New England’s Tom Brady, who could get one of his favorite targets back in tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“It’s a great opportunity to go out and prove on a huge stage against a great quarterback what we are capable of doing,” DeCoud said. “This is a challenge that we are going to rise to the occasion.”