Where: The Falcons hold camp at their permanent practice facility located 45 minutes north of downtown Atlanta. While the Falcons are using their own facility for camp, they make the players stay at a mini-apartment complex situated in the back of the property.
When the Falcons stepped onto the practice field at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, it was 32 degrees Celsius (40 with the humidex). Fortunately for the players, especially the linemen, the clouds rolled in and prevented the field from getting too hot.
Dealing with heat is such a concern for the Falcons that they have specialized “cooling tents” for the players during specific breaks in practice. While it wasn’t particularly intense, there was a certain level of crispness and pace to practice and the Falcons ended up getting all their work in.
What: After going 13-3 last year then eventually losing to the 49ers in the NFC Championship, the Falcons are a team on a mission.
Atlanta is also a team loaded with stars on offence.
You have to watch receiver Roddy White up close to appreciate how good his hands are. With Julio Jones still nursing a tender hamstring, White was quarterback Matt Ryan’s go-to receiver during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills.
The Falcons secondary had next to no chance of stopping Ryan and White as they played pitch-and-catch all day. Ryan would thread the needle and White would use his huge hands to envelop the ball. On one play, Asante Samuel was beaten badly as Ryan and White hooked up on a deep corner route. Another time White beat cornerback Robert McClain, leaving McClain yelling “Damn bro!” in frustration.
While he might not have the strongest arm in the NFL, Ryan’s touch and accuracy are perfectly suited for the Falcons’ offence. Even with the changes and improvements Atlanta has made on defence, they still have a ways to go before they can be put in the same class as the offence.
Add in a healthy Jones, running back Steven Jackson along with tight end Tony Gonzalez and the Falcons have one of the best offences in the NFC.
Defensive end Kroy Biermann said that while they’re not there yet, he’s confident Atlanta’s defence can get to where they need to be in 2013:
“We are always working to get better. We are always fine tuning things. You know it’s an everyday process. Guys are doing great, we’re flying around. It’s just the little things we have to get better at. And we will.”
Coach’s corner: You can’t talk about Falcons’ head coach Mike Smith without talking about general manager Thomas Dimitroff. The two men are very much joined at the hip and end up speaking together numerous times throughout practice.
Dimitroff is a bundle of energy and is as jacked up about the future of his alma mater, the Guelph Gryphons, as he is about the Falcons. As he said, if he wasn’t so busy trying to build a Super Bowl winning football team in Atlanta, he might have more time to devote to helping raise funds for the Guelph athletic facilities.
The sixth-year general manager is genuinely excited about the Falcons game against the Buffalo Bills at the Rogers Centre on December 1. So much so that he’s planning on coming up to Toronto a few days before the rest of the team so he can take part in a fundraiser at Guelph.
Coach Smith is a pretty cool customer and keeps his cards close to the vest when speaking to the media. Smith’s assistants do most of the talking during practice, especially during individual drills.
Both Smith and Dimitroff have enjoyed great regular season success during their time in Atlanta, but now the expectation is they will be able to take their team to the next level: the Super Bowl.
Yeah, but: If the Falcons offence has one weakness it can be found along their offensive line.
Right tackle Mike Johnson is done for the year after dislocating his ankle and breaking his leg. That means most of the right side of the Falcons’ offensive line is very young. Centre Peter Konz is in his second year, guard Garrett Reynolds is in his fifth year and new right tackle Lamar Holmes is in his second year. Holdovers Justin Blalock and Sam Baker form the left side of the line at guard and tackle, respectively.
During pass rush drills Baker destroyed second year defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi. That was followed by a “Come on Sam!” and a string of expletives by Massaquoi as he tried to get his bearings and dust himself off.
Keep an eye on: There are two rookies in camp that are drawing a lot of attention and both are cornerbacks.
The first one is first-round draft pick Desmond Trufant, selected out of Washington. The second is second-round draft pick Robert Alford out of the much smaller program, Southeast Louisiana.
The drafting of Trufant and Alford give the Falcons’ secondary some much needed depth at corner. With the Falcons facing the Saints in Week 1 and the Patriots in Week 4, they’ll need that depth in the secondary to shut down those high powered offences.
Fantasy football alert: Fantasy football players will be happy to hear the Falcons are trying to devise new ways to get the ball in the hands of running back Jacquizz Rodgers. With the newly-arrived Steven Jackson slated to get the bulk of the carries this year, the Falcons are trying to use Rodgers in a variety of formations to utilize his skill set.
The long shot: Undrafted linebacker Paul Worrilow has become the talk of Falcons’ camp after he registered a game-high 11 tackles (nine of them solo) in their pre-season loss to the Bengals last Thursday. Dimitroff loves the kid out of Delaware do much that if he keeps grading out well in practice and performing like that in pre-season games, he just might make the team.
Camp life: Say what you want about Falcons owner Arthur Blank, but the man knows how to care of his people. From the perfectly manicured grass fields to the cafeteria that feeds the players, everything in Flowery Branch, Georgia is first class.
Once the players were finished lunch, the media was allowed to get something to eat. The lunch was amazing; the desert was even better.
The Falcons have a Carvel Ice Cream machine that dispenses both chocolate and vanilla with dozens of toppings to choose from. As I was decided whether or not to have some, veteran kicker Matt Bryant walked up and started loading up his cup. He turned to me and said, “I’m just a kicker.” That was good enough for me because, “I’m just a reporter.”
Thank You: It’s such a simple thing to say, “thank you.” It makes you wonder why people don’t say it more often.
On my way to Atlanta I had to change planes in Charlotte, North Carolina. Waiting to board our flight was a young soldier in the U.S. Army in full uniform. It was touching to see so many people come up to him in the airport and on the plane and say, “thank you for your service.”
The young man was a little taken aback by all of the attention and couldn’t muster more than a “you’re welcome” as he went about his business.