What is the story about?
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The end of the Falcons’ sixth training camp practice overshadowed everything else that happened on Tuesday.
Jalon Walker, the second-year pass rusher who’s coming off of a fantastic rookie season, went down with what’s assumed to be an ACL tear during two-minute drills in Tuesday’s afternoon practice.
The other big news from Tuesday was, of course, Bijan’s contract extension, which was fantastic news to wake up to. It’s well-deserved and locks up the best back in the NFL right
now in Atlanta through his prime years.
Here’s all of Jeanna’s reporting from Tuesday’s practice in the Feed:
Falcons training camp Day 6 notes and quotes:
- Prior to practice, head coach Kevin Stefanski told the media that the Falcons were back in shells today, not full pads. At this point of training camp league rules prohibit back-to-back padded practices.
- Practice wrapped about an hour early due to the Jalon Walker injury.
- Tua isn’t entirely a full go quite yet, but he’s getting there. His limited status remains precautionary.
- Stefanski on Bijan’s extension: “I’m very happy for him and very happy for us.” I am also happy for the rest of us. Having Bijan locked up for the next three years is smart team-building.
- Tua Tagovailoa on Bijan’s extension: “He’s an amazing person,” says Tua. They have their Christian faith in common and he also respects Bijan as a leader.
- Tua on Jalon Walker’s injury: “The end of practice is definitely not what you want to see, but as a football team…we understand injuries come with the game. I’m no doctor, I’m no medical guy, so I can’t say what’s going on or what’s not going on. All we can do is pray for Jay and keep our fingers crossed, hope that he’s going to be OK and can play with us this season.”
Injury Updates
- Jalon Walker went down in 11-on-11s after a pass rush rep and was carted off. The team ended practice afterwards. The severity of the injury is unknown, but looks bad.
- Tua Tagovailoa appears to be inching closer to a full return, as he took far more snaps in 11-on-11 and attempted a lot more throws. He said during his press conference that he expects to be full go tomorrow (Wednesday).
- Jessie Bates III had his helmet off on the sideline for 11-on-11s. We didn’t hear anything about this so it’s possible it was just a scheduled rest day.
- OT Wanya Morris returned to practice in a limited capacity. DT Da’Shawn Hand was held out after yesterday’s injury but isn’t expected to miss much time. No new updates on OT Jawaan Taylor or any of the other players on PUP/NFI.
- EDGE DeAngelo Malone was placed on reserve/PUP today. In a corresponding move, the team signed DT Marlon Tuipulotu.
Offense
- QB Tua Tagovailoa had his most active (and best) day of training camp thus far. He looks to be getting healthier. His short throws were on time and accurate, and guys like WR Olamide Zaccheaus and RB Tyler Goodson were able to take advantage for some nice YAC. He also had a nice 20-yard completion to rookie WR Zachariah Branch.
- QB Michael Penix Jr. was very aggressive today, attempting a lot of downfield passes. He hit London, Zaccheaus, and UDFA WR Antwane Wells Jr. for 10+ yards. He also found Zachariah Branch on what looked like a drag route, and Branch turned it into a big gain. He also overthrew Branch and Dotson deep, and threw a little short on his final pass which almost ended in an INT.
- QBs Jack Strand and Cooper Rush ran some end-of-half drills with the full team. Strand managed a few short completions but made some mistakes with his targets, leading to the clock running out. Rush benefited from a questionable holding call on the defense (I think he would’ve been sacked before then), but managed the time better and got the team into field goal range with a nice catch-and-run from Brian Robinson.
- Speaking of RB Brian Robinson Jr., this was his best day. He had a couple of really nice runs during 11-on-11s and that catch-and-run in the end-of-half drill. RB Tyler Goodson also had showed off some nice moves, taking a tunnel screen for about 15 yards.
- RB Bijan Robinson was back on the practice field and took a few handoffs early, but otherwise sat out the team sessions.
- The top WRs all looked good today. Drake London was peppered with targets, Olamide Zaccheaus made several nice YAC plays, and Jahan Dotson had a couple of nice catches.
- The most impressive overall WR continues to be rookie Zachariah Branch. All the QBs were looking for him and he continued to make plays. Penix hit him on a drag and he may have broken it for a long TD in a real game situation. Tua then found him sitting in the soft spot in the zone for a 20-yard pickup. Strand also went to him in the end-of-half drill but threw it too far in front. Branch brought it in with a tough diving catch but couldn’t stay on his feet to get out of bounds. I don’t see any scenario where Branch isn’t getting at least a few targets on this offense by the time Week 1 arrives, he hasn’t slowed down at all.
- TE Kyle Pitts was participating in drills but I didn’t see him in team sessions, so that’s why there were no targets to speak of. TE Austin Hooper and TE Charlie Woerner got a lot of reps in his absence, and both made some nice catches.
Defense
- This was the first day that I would say that the defense didn’t clearly win. Technically the offense and defense split the end-of-half sessions, but the offense moved the ball better through the air and on the ground than days past.
- The pass rush continued to be productive. I had at least three sacks for Atlanta, along with a really nice pressure by EDGE Bralen Trice that forced a crucial errant throw during the end-of-half session.
- The most impressive defensive back today was CB Cobee Bryant, who nearly had a pick off Penix in 7-on-7 and made a critical PBU against Jahan Dotson during the end-of-half session.
- There continued to be a lot of rotation at safety and corner, both outside and in the slot. With Jessie Bates III sitting out the team sessions, DeMarcco Hellams got more opportunities. Natrone Brooks also got some looks at safety.
- Rookie CB Avieon Terrell played almost entirely outside during team drills today, but the practice was cut short so I wouldn’t too much into this. The slot corner snaps were mostly handled by A.J. Woods and Darnay Holmes once again.
- Veteran DT Chris Williams continued to get a lot of work, even more so now with the absence of Da’Shawn Hand. He’s definitely one to watch for the roster.
- The rotation at LB continues, though Christian Harris looks like the heavy favorite to start next to Divine Deablo. The team seems to have a lot of confidence in both Harold Perkins Jr. and Kendal Daniels.
- Jalon Walker’s (likely) absence complicates things in the EDGE room. Samson Ebukam likely moves into a full-time starting role and Azeez Ojulari’s role takes on added importance. Cameron Thomas also becomes a likely roster lock (though I expected him to make it anyway). Bralen Trice has an enormous opportunity to make his case, and the Falcons desperately need him to step up.
Needless to say, a very somber end to practice. It was like all the oxygen left Flowery Branch at once. We’ll hope Walker’s injury isn’t as bad as it appears, but things look pretty bad right now. Kevin’s final day at Falcons training camp will be Wednesday, so he’ll be here bright and early for one last hurrah tomorrow. Look for a live edition of Tuesday Takes with Tre’Shon later tonight as we recap all the news and notes from Day 6.
