From the AJC
by D. Orlando Ledbetter
FLOWERY BRANCH – The Falcons and the Jaguars went through a relatively peaceful first combined practice Monday morning.
There were two little dust-ups, but no fights of note broke out.
“I saw a little bit of chippiness from our end today, but I told our guys right away that’s not what we are interested in,” Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio said. “You are not going to show me that you’re tough by doing stuff like that. We want our guys to come in here, practice hard and be competitive. We are really in a combined practice atmosphere.”
Falcons coach Mike Smith thought the first practice went well. The two teams will hold a special teams practice Monday afternoon.
“It’s great for our personnel department to evaluate our guys against other guys,” Smith said. “It’s an opportunity to work against other people.”
JENKINS UPDATE: Smith said that starting wide receiver Michael Jenkins will not require surgery for his left shoulder injury. He’s expected to miss four to six weeks.
“We are going to rotate our wide receivers,” Smith said. “Harry Douglas will be coming back. Brian Finneran and Eric Weems, they are all experienced players that will really step into his role. Again, Harry, we are bringing him along slowly and in a one-a-day mode. Brian and Eric will probably get the majority of the snaps and we’ll get Kerry Meier in the game Friday night.”
Jenkins injured his shoulder when he fell awkwardly trying to catch a deep pass from Matt Ryan in the intrasquad scrimmage on Friday.
Jenkins was at practice and was not wearing a shoulder harness. Smith would not reveal if he suffered a dislocated or separated shoulder.
Other practice notes:
* Linebacker Mike Peterson has inflammation in his calf and will miss a couple of days of practice.
* Safety William Moore did not practice and is considered day to day.
* Wide receiver Troy Bergeron, who was out with a calf injury, returned to practice.
* Cornerback Dunta Robinson (hamstring) and running back Jerious Norwood (hip flexor) appeared to be running extremely well under the supervision of the training staff.
* Defensive tackle Thomas Johnson (right achilles) did not practice.
* Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon lined up with the first team defense with Peterson out with an injury.
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