It’s almost here. After a week of walk-throughs and drills, the 2010 Atlanta Falcons finally got to put on the pads and play some football, as their annual Friday Night Lights took place on Friday night at North Gwinnett High School.
It was an opportunity for fans who could not make it out to their training facilities in Flowery Branch to watch the team scrimmage and get up close and personal with their favorite players.
The team was split into two, red (offense) vs. white (defense) and head coach Mike Smith had his own point system so the defense had an equal opportunity to score points in the scrimmage. Before the intrasquad scrimmage, the defense was making plays during camp. But this time it was the offense’s turn to shine as they defeated the defense 39-22.
“[The defense] is going get into the swing of things before we do,” Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli said after the scrimmage. “For us it’s timing, and it’s just getting into the swing of things. So we’ll get there.”
One of the things the Falcons coaches were taking notice was the play of the younger talent. Guys such as Brandyn Harvey and Dominique Franks were able to make some big plays, but the two who stood out the most were running backs Antone Smith and Dimitri Nance who shared time with Jason Snelling.
“Some of our young players had an opportunity to get extended playing time and I think the running backs did a really good job,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “I thought those guys ran the ball well.
Another player that stepped up his game is wide receiver Kerry Meier who made some big plays while working with the first team.
“Kerry is doing a good job for us,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said who sat most of the second half. “He’s been working hard, studying real hard, been learning the offense, getting better day-by-day.”
Meier may have to better quick because Michael Jenkins went down with a shoulder injury early in the scrimmage. Jenkins will be looked at on Saturday but it’s not expected to be serious.
As good as the team looked, one aspect Smith was worried about is tackling because there were more missed tackles than he would have liked.
“This is the first time we had live tackling,” Smith said. “I think we’ll a lot of improvement between now and next week.”
At halftime about 500 youth cheerleaders performed who were part of the North Gwinnett youth cheerleading program. After the game, fans were treated to fireworks and a full-team autograph session. Total attendance for the event was over 12,000 which is close to the numbers last year which took place at Brookwood and the year prior to that when it was at Mill Creek.
The Falcons will have a mock game on Saturday at their headquarters in Flowery Branch where all the players will go through a rundown of a real NFL game. The event is open to the public and will kickoff at 12:00 p.m. The Falcons will have their first preseason game at the Georgia Dome on Friday when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs. The game will kickoff at 8:00 p.m.
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