Gonzalez shines as minicamp closes
See if you can find Falcons owner Arthur Blank? Minicamp was open to the public on Saturday. (CURTIS COMPTON/AJC)
FLOWERY BRANCH – The one lasting impression of the Falcons minicamp, was seeing Tony Gonzalez whizzing around the field like a youngster.
He appeared to catch everything thrown his way. On Sunday, he drove out to tip a pass that was too far in front of him. While falling to the ground, he caught the ball.
Offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey had him run a couple of vertical routes and it doesn’t look like the 33-year-old has lost a step. (Wonder if the Hawks have called the Falcons to see if he can suit up for Game 4 on Monday. Gonzalez also played hoops at California and went to the Sweet 16 with Jason Kidd and the crew back in the day.)
“He’s everything that I’ve seen for the last nine or 10 years,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith
Falcon fan Michael "STATS" Walling (42), of Dawsonville, was excited to see new tight end Tony Gonzalez. (CURTIS COMPTON/AJC)
said. “He’s the prototypical tight end. He can block. He can catch. He can run after the catch. He’s just a guy who’s going to make everybody on this team, offense and defense, better.
KICKING IT WITH THE BVG: Defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder is still the loudest coach on the field.
He’s got perhaps the toughest job, but has tons of help from his assistants and Smith. Molding at least five new starters into the unit is going something we’ll keep tabs on.
POSITION OUT IN
Strong safety Lawyer Milloy Thomas DeCoud
Cornerback Dominique Foxworth Brent Grimes
Weakside LB KeithBrooking Michael Peterson
Strongside LB Michael Boley Stephen Nicholas
Nose tackle Grady Jackson Trey Lewis
BVG thinks he has enough veterans to blend in some of the young talent.
John Abraham did not practice during mini-camp. The Falcons would not say if he a surgery or medical procedure. (CURTIS COMPTON/AJC)
He cited Erik Coleman, Michael Peterson, John Abraham and Chauncey Davis.
“We’ve got enough veteran leadership that can work out to be a great blend with the young players,” VanGorder said. “With young players . . . right now it’s kind of crucial to allow them to get comfortable.”
COMPETITION: Smith said don’t put too much stock into how the unit lined up in mini-camp. There will be plenty of competition for those starting spots. First round pick Peria Jerry could push Lewis. Chris Owens could push Grimes and William Moore could push DeCoud.
“They are competing for playing time,” VanGorder said. “That playing time could come in a lot of different forms. That doesn’t mean, just as a starter. Certainly a lot of guys are battling for starting positions. Some guys are trying to earn spots on the roster. Some guys are trying to get into the two-deep so that they can gain reps. There are a lot of dynamics involved in that.”
NO MATTER HOW IT GOES DOWN, THE DEFENSE WILL BE YOUNG: “We’re going to be young,
Trey Lews (97) had a minor scare on his first day back after two knee surgeries. He spent last season on injured reserve. (CURTIS COMPTON/AJC)
but I still think we’ve got a good mixture,” VanGorder said. “We have a number of guys going into their third year. We played with some rookies last year, who gained some valuable experience and should improve this year.
We’ve got a good formula set up.”
MULARKEY ON THE OFFENSE: Mularkey knows that with Gonazlez on board, teams will have trouble keying on one player.
There were games last season, when teams could sellout on stopping Michael Turner or Roddy White and shut the offense down.
“It will be hard to beat down on one guy with Tony in there,” Mularkey said. “It should help the run game with him in there.”
The theme for the offense is “Get Better.”
“We want to get better, everywhere,” Mularkey said.
THE ROOKIES: Made it a point to meet all of the rookie draft choices. Real nice and intelligent group. The Garrett Reynolds kid is huge. He’s the second biggest lineman next to Tyson Clabo. Was worried about the cornerbacks — Chris Owens and William Middleton — being to small. But one Falcon scout told me “as long as they can play.” And warned not to get caught up on their height. William Moore looks like a stud, now it will just be a matter of how fast will he pick up the defense.
Well, now that mini-camp is over, did you get your football fix? Learn anything new about the rookies? Worried about the defense still? Excited about the offense?
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768 comments Add your comment
Stirg d'Nahsif
May 19th, 2009
11:10 am
D3, if it won’t take up too much of your time, can you crunch and post the numbers for Carolina (like you did with Miami and Atlanta) so we can ride the ATL vs. CAR game. Although I think Miami and Atlanta will be the most intriguing game (and teams) of next season, I’m interested in the turnout of Atlanta versus Carolina. ‘Preciate it!
Sarah B
May 19th, 2009
11:14 am
NFL.com has all 32 teams ranked for the forst time this year and our Falcons are #7.It says with the addition of Gonzo we are definately contenders. I hope this does not jinx us.
jason
May 19th, 2009
11:30 am
D3, Hyder coached at Valdosta. Bobo relocated to Rome to be closer to Mike while he was UGA. That’s what I remember. He was in the running for a State Championship, and even though Mike graduated they still had the talent to make another run. He stayed in Thomasville mike’s Frosh year and then moved.
OK, QB2 analysis. This is hard. Redman vs. Shockley. Redman is a good compliment to the starter. I will disagree that he could start for another team. Yes he started some games 2 years ago under Prictrino, but that was Prictrino’s collage offense that he played while in collage. The question is can he run Mularkey’s Offense? Ryan didn’t even come off the field last year. I believe Ryan took every snap the offense ran. He is a very intelligent QB. To me Redman does not have great arm strength. Redman knows how to play in the NFL. Good stopgap player. Accurate passer. Not very mobile. Redman’s career stas:
2008 Atlanta Falcons 0 0 — – — – — – — – — 0.0 — – — – — –
2007 Atlanta Falcons 7 4 89 149 59.7 1,079 7.2 10 5 9 51 90.4 8 16 2.0 0 2 1
2003 Baltimore Ravens 2 0 7 13 53.8 58 4.5 0 2 6 45 26.0 2 4 2.0 0 3 2
2002 Baltimore Ravens 6 6 97 182 53.3 1,034 5.7 7 3 11 68 76.1 10 8 0.8 0 5 2
2001 Baltimore Ravens 0 0 — – — – — – — – — 0.0 — – — – — –
2000 Baltimore Ravens 2 0 2 3 66.7 19 6.3 0 0 0 0 84.0 1 0 0.0 0 — –
TOTAL 195 347 56.2 2,190 6.3 17 10 26 164 79.5 21 28 1.3 0 10 5
Here, I posted his career numbers. If you look at 2008, he had 0 stats. So, the #2 QB will not play much. DJ shockley has never had an opportunity to play. He must have talent, otherwise he would not keep making the roster through 3 different HCs, and 3 different systems. DJ’s best chance to make an impact was his rookie season until a serious knee injury cost him the entire season. He would have backed up MV and given DJ’s similar dynamics from the QB position. Blessed with great arm strength, and mobility, even after knee surgery. He needs to show durability. We all know about his patience and perseverance. The way he sat behind Greene at UGA for 4 ears. To now overcoming a knee injury. DJ has no NFL stats to speak of. He has all the talent. He just needs to be given the oppurtunity to play and gain some expirence at the NFL level.
I think this will be a battle all the way throughout preseason.Do you go with what you know, or do you gamble with what could be? I think DJ wins this battle. DJ has all the tools. He also has the mental makeup to handle adverse situations. I think DJ’s mental make up coupled with his physical talents will give him the edge.
Unca' Bob
May 19th, 2009
11:33 am
D3,
At this time of year, JPW could have been brought in as a fresh arm on the practice team. I don’t think any of us know what is in the mind-set of the Falcons coaching staff. Anything from this point is purely speculation. Having said that, perhaps they are not satisfied with Shockley’s progress in closing the gap between he and Redman. Perhaps they feel JPW could actually replace Redman. Honestly, I don’t have a clue. What I do know is the Falcon’s have a very good reason for having him in camp this year…The Process continues.
Sarah B,
My thoughts exactly. One for one and on a roll!
jason
May 19th, 2009
11:35 am
G GS Comp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Sck SckY Rate
2008 Atlanta Falcons 0 0 — – — – — – — – — 0.0 — – — –
2007 Atlanta Falcons 7 4 89 149 59.7 1,079 7.2 10 5 9 51 90.4 8 16
2003 Baltimore Ravens 2 0 7 13 53.8 58 4.5 0 2 6 45 26.0 2 4 2.0 0 3
2002 Baltimore Ravens 6 6 97 182 53.3 1,034 5.7 7 3 11 68 76.1 10 8
2001 Baltimore Ravens 0 0 — – — – — – — – — 0.0 — – — -
2000 Baltimore Ravens 2 0 2 3 66.7 19 6.3 0 0 0 0 84.0 1 0 0.0 0 –
TOTAL 195 347 56.2 2,190 6.3 17 10 26 164 79.
jason
May 19th, 2009
11:45 am
Unca’ Bob, I think JPW was bought in for a future QB to develope. I don’t see Redman around much longer. Maybe this year. I don’t think it really has anything to do with DJ. TD and Smitty had DJ aroubd all last season to evaluate. They knew he was coming off a knee injury. They were going slow and easy to make sure DJ was healthy so they could get an honets evaluation of his QBing skills. That’s the main reason Redman was kept. ATL really didn’t have another back up QB. JPW will not make the NFL roster this year, might make the practice squad.
Strig. I think the reason ATL deployed the cover two last year was Smitty knew the weak link was on D. He didn’t have his personel to run his defense. With his players coming in this year, you will see more man, and blitz packages. If that is what Houston excells in, then he could be in for a break out year.
WR
May 19th, 2009
11:51 am
Cage members D-Led is back in the house, lets move on over and keep the cage rocking.
jason
May 19th, 2009
11:59 am
Hey guys, a new blog is up. DOL made it back to work…
JohnWaynesworld
May 19th, 2009
12:58 pm
Wait, I wanted the last word!
Ken Strickland
May 19th, 2009
3:15 pm
STIRG-the cover 2 zone requires CB’s to be physical, which is probably why FA DB VHutchins was signed and CB CHouston was criticized. He’s known for being physical and ia a classic cover 2 CB. BGrimes’ aggressiveness, despite his size, was likely one of the primary reasons he earned the starting nod last yr. None of the CB’s we’ve drafted the last 2 drafts are known for their ability to play zone DEF’s of any kind. They are all known for their speed, quickness and man coverage skills. That tells me the cover 2 zone isn’t in our future.
If everything goes well for me, I plan to be back in Atlanta and attending some of the training camp sessions. I intend to follow the competition for the open CB, DT, SS and possibly the LDE position intensely.
The 1st 3 gms of the season will provide a very strong test for our DEF and we’ll have 2 weeks to make whatever adjustments, improvements or correct any problems. The 1st 3 gms will be like an in season preseason that will let us see where we are and what needs to be done to become SB bound. Our real season will be the 13gms/teams we’ll play after the bye week. We can go 1-2 our 1st 3gms, then go 10-3 the remainder of the season and end up 11-5, same as last yr.
D3
May 19th, 2009
3:19 pm
2009 Cleveland Browns
General – The Browns are coming off an under-achieving and disappointing reign with another Belichick assistant in Romeo Crennel, so what’s the answer: hire another Belichick assistant! I’m split two ways in Man-Genius(yeah, right): on one hand he took a pretty weak Jets team to the playoffs in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL, but on the other hand, he’s been known to be cocky, arrogant, and oversaw one of the biggest final stretch meltdowns in recent memory.
Offense – they have some core pieces in place to do some things offensively. They have a young, pro-bowl caliber LT in Joe Thomas, promising young WR in Braylon Edwards(shouldn’t even consider a trade), and drafted some potentially great WR’s in Robiskie and Massaquoi. But until Brady Quinn shows he can stop looking at himself in the mirror and make the transition to the NFL, the Browns are still a huge question mark. Jamal Lewis had a comeback year, but that was two years ago and they appear to have no answer to their running game unless former Clemson product James Davis can show something.
Defense – Besides ILB D’Qwell Jackson I can’t name you one play-maker on that Defense. Shaun Rogers at NT is ok; Willie McGinest was a stud but is on the downslide. Sean Jones is in Philly. Andra Davis is now gone. This looks like a serious re-building effort. While the offense may be solid, the DEF looks to be one of the worst in the league, IMO.
Cleveland Browns
1 Sep 13 MIN @ CLE (loss)
2 Sep 20 CLE @ DEN (loss)
3 Sep 27 CLE @ BAL (loss)
4 Oct 04 CIN @ CLE (win)
5 Oct 11 CLE @ BUF (win)
6 Oct 18 CLE @ PIT (loss)
7 Oct 25 GB @ CLE (win)
8 Nov 01 CLE @ CHI (loss)
9 Bye
10 Nov 16 BAL @ CLE (loss)
11 Nov 22 CLE @ DET (loss)
12 Nov 29 CLE @ CIN (loss)
13 Dec 06 SD @ CLE (loss)
14 Dec 10 PIT @ CLE (loss)
15 Dec 20 CLE @ KC (win)
16 Dec 27 OAK @ CLE (win)
17 Jan 03 JAC @ CLE (loss
Offense has some young potential, but no running game and a terrible DEF leads to another poor year.
QB #2 later……….
D3
May 19th, 2009
3:22 pm
This blog monster is starting to pi$$ me right OFF! Glad I learned to copy all my entries before submitting.
D3
May 19th, 2009
3:22 pm
hello? does this site work at all. 3 attempts……….No Dice! GDMFBS!!!!!!
D3
May 19th, 2009
3:24 pm
Attempt #4, and then I get a “duplicate copy” message. Uuummmm, no because you haven’t POSTED IT YET! NO CURSE WORDS, NO FOUL LANGUAGE, JUST POST THE GD THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2009 Cleveland Browns
General – The Browns are coming off an under-achieving and disappointing reign with another Belichick assistant in Romeo Crennel, so what’s the answer: hire another Belichick assistant! I’m split two ways in Man-Genius(yeah, right): on one hand he took a pretty weak Jets team to the playoffs in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL, but on the other hand, he’s been known to be cocky, arrogant, and oversaw one of the biggest final stretch meltdowns in recent memory.
Offense – they have some core pieces in place to do some things offensively. They have a young, pro-bowl caliber LT in Joe Thomas, promising young WR in Braylon Edwards(shouldn’t even consider a trade), and drafted some potentially great WR’s in Robiskie and Massaquoi. But until Brady Quinn shows he can stop looking at himself in the mirror and make the transition to the NFL, the Browns are still a huge question mark. Jamal Lewis had a comeback year, but that was two years ago and they appear to have no answer to their running game unless former Clemson product James Davis can show something.
Defense – Besides ILB D’Qwell Jackson I can’t name you one play-maker on that Defense. Shaun Rogers at NT is ok; Willie McGinest was a stud but is on the downslide. Sean Jones is in Philly. Andra Davis is now gone. This looks like a serious re-building effort. While the offense may be solid, the DEF looks to be one of the worst in the league, IMO.
Cleveland Browns
1 Sep 13 MIN @ CLE (loss)
2 Sep 20 CLE @ DEN (loss)
3 Sep 27 CLE @ BAL (loss)
4 Oct 04 CIN @ CLE (win)
5 Oct 11 CLE @ BUF (win)
6 Oct 18 CLE @ PIT (loss)
7 Oct 25 GB @ CLE (win)
8 Nov 01 CLE @ CHI (loss)
9 Bye
10 Nov 16 BAL @ CLE (loss)
11 Nov 22 CLE @ DET (loss)
12 Nov 29 CLE @ CIN (loss)
13 Dec 06 SD @ CLE (loss)
14 Dec 10 PIT @ CLE (loss)
15 Dec 20 CLE @ KC (win)
16 Dec 27 OAK @ CLE (win)
17 Jan 03 JAC @ CLE (loss
Offense has some young potential, but no running game and a terrible DEF leads to another poor year.
QB #2 later……….
D3
May 19th, 2009
3:33 pm
Attempt #6
2009 Cleveland Browns
General – The Browns are coming off an under-achieving and disappointing reign with another Belichick assistant in Romeo Crennel, so what’s the answer: hire another Belichick assistant! I’m split two ways in Man-Genius(yeah, right): on one hand he took a pretty weak Jets team to the playoffs in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL, but on the other hand, he’s been known to be cocky, arrogant, and oversaw one of the biggest final stretch meltdowns in recent memory.
D3
May 19th, 2009
3:33 pm
Attempt #7
Offense – they have some core pieces in place to do some things offensively. They have a young, pro-bowl caliber LT in Joe Thomas, promising young WR in Braylon Edwards(shouldn’t even consider a trade), and drafted some potentially great WR’s in Robiskie and Massaquoi. But until Brady Quinn shows he can stop looking at himself in the mirror and make the transition to the NFL, the Browns are still a huge question mark. Jamal Lewis had a comeback year, but that was two years ago and they appear to have no answer to their running game unless former Clemson product James Davis can show something.
D3
May 19th, 2009
3:36 pm
The thing about this blog eating crap that bothers me is that there’s absolutely no ryhme or reason to it at all. GD ridiculous!
Attempt #8
Offense – they have some core pieces in place to do some things offensively. They have a young, pro-bowl caliber LT in Joe Thomas, promising young WR in Braylon Edwards(shouldn’t even consider a trade), and drafted some potentially great WR’s in Robiskie and Massaquoi. But until Brady Quinn shows he can stop looking at himself in the mirror and make the transition to the NFL, the Browns are still a huge question mark. Jamal Lewis had a comeback year, but that was two years ago and they appear to have no answer to their running game unless former Clemson product James Davis can show something.
Jimbo
May 19th, 2009
10:53 pm
I think the Bengals are about a year away from turning the ship. But there are still just too many screw ups on that team to overcome. One more year of the bad characters shooting themselves in their collective feet and the purge will begin.
The Cincinnati Bengals:
1 Sep 13 DEN @ CIN -L
2 Sep 20 CIN @ GB -L
3 Sep 27 PIT @ CIN -L
4 Oct 04 CIN @ CLE -W
5 Oct 11 CIN @ BAL -L
6 Oct 18 HOU @ CIN -W
7 Oct 25 CHI @ CIN -W
8 Bye
9 Nov 08 BAL @ CIN -L
10 Nov 15 CIN @ PIT -L
11 Nov 22 CIN @ OAK -L
12 Nov 29 CLE @ CIN -L
13 Dec 06 DET @ CIN -W
14 Dec 13 CIN @ MIN -L
15 Dec 20 CIN @ SD -L
16 Dec 27 KC @ CIN -W
17 Jan 03 CIN @ NYJ -W
6-10