The 2010 NFL season officially started for the Falcons on Friday, as training camp opened at their facilities in Flowery Branch. Since head coach Mike Smith took over the helm in 2008, the expectations for the Falcons have been high. But this year is different because they are coming off a 9-7 campaign which made it the first time this team had back-to-back winning seasons. And they were able to accomplish that feat with the majority of their players injured.
The first practice was at 8:30 in the morning on Friday and fans got a treat because all Falcons players that were on the roster participated, including Brian Williams, Harry Douglas and Peria Jerry who are all coming off of knee injuries. So there is no question the No. 1 objective for the Falcons during training camp.
“The biggest thing for us is to stay healthy, especially in the first 10 days of training camp,” said Smith after the first practice. “I think it’s going to be very important that we stay healthy and that’s one of our main objectives.”
Coach Smith also mentioned the other objective is to advance as a team offensively and defensively. Offensively, it starts with Matt Ryan who is coming off a solid second year, but he knows the offense as a whole needs to improve in order to make the next step.
“We need to be more consistent on first and second down, Ryan said after the morning session. “We need to be more consistent on third down. We need to be more consistent in the red zone. And those are all things that I think we’re going to work really hard at.”
Another objective was to have the rookies in camp and ready ago and once again, the Falcons officials did a good job getting all their draft picks signed and ready to go before camp began. So all eyes were one Sean Weatherspoon who signed a less than 24 hours before the Friday morning session.
“My main goal was to make sure I made this practice,” Weatherspoon said. “You don’t want to miss any time on the field. It was a big deal getting there and I was very excited that I’m here.”
The afternoon session started at 3:30 p.m. and it the team did the same drills as the morning practice, but Jerry, Williams, Douglass and Tony Gonzalez all sat out.
One of the highlights during camp was Matt Ryan first pass of the seven-on-seven drills picked off by Mike Peterson and taken back to the house for a touchdown. That would be the only mistake Ryan would make and looked flawless in the rest of the drill as well as the two team sessions.
Another note from the afternoon session is rookies Kerry Meier and Weatherspoon got a lot of work with the first team offense and defense, respectively. And with Gonzalez out, Justin Peele and rookie TE from Clemson Michael Palmer saw a lot of action with the first-team offense and bother came up with clutch catches.
Even though Jerry did not participate, he was excited to get back on the field.
“It was good getting back out with the team and the D-line [defensive line],” said Jerry after the afternoon practice. Just communicating with the guys, and talking with the guys as well as running around was fun.”
The Falcons will have two-a-day practices from Saturday-Tuesday and will have one practice on Wednesday afternoon. They will have two sessions on Thursday and on Friday, they will kick off Allstate All-Access weekend with Friday Night Lights at North Gwinnett High School at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, the Falcons will host a mock game at Flowery Branch at 12:00 p.m. Their first preseason game will be against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Georgia Dome on August 13.
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