Falcons, Titans have history of training camp fights
080822 ATLANTA: --PLAYING PHYSICAL--Falcons offensive lineman #73 Harvey Dahl shows some fight as he sends Titans defensive end #93 Kyle Vanden Bosch flying at the end of a play during 2nd quarter action in the Georgia Dome, Friday, August 22, 2008. Curtis Compton/ AJC
FLOWERY BRANCH — In 2004, the last time the Titans and Falcons met for a little training-camp fun, things became heated.
With the Falcons trying to push the tempo under first-year coach Jim Mora, the Titans didn’t back down.
There were a flurry of fights that ended with Falcons quarterback Michael Vick suffering a strained right hamstring. Falcons offensive lineman Martin Bibla mixed it up with reserve Titans defensive lineman James Atkins in the main event.
But when the Falcons and the Titans meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Coahulla Creek High School in Dalton, the teams will take part in a kinder and gentler practice.
“It’s going to be a nice controlled scrimmage,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “It will be nothing like where we are going to go out there and tear each other’s heads off. We are just going to go out there and try to get better.”
The Falcons practiced against the Jaguars in Jacksonville last season. In 2010, they practiced against the Jaguars and the New England Patriots in Flowery Branch.
They had plans to practice with the Titans last season, but they were scratched as the lockout dragged on. Coach Mike Smith hopes that the Falcons can continue their relationship with the Titans.
“It should be good to go against some fresh meat and see how we stack up,” Gonzalez said.
In addition to the brutal 2004 scrimmage, the Falcons also scrimmaged the Titans in Chattanooga in 1997.
This is the second practice outside of Flowery Branch leading to the exhibition opener against the Baltimore Ravens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Georgia Dome.
“We are looking at these three events, Friday Night Lights, working against the Titans and the preseason game as one set of practices,” Smith said. “Certain guys are going to work more against the Titans than they are in the preseason game on Thursday night.”
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–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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22 comments Add your comment
BigRon
August 6th, 2012
6:03 am
First comment all i can say is go falcons lol
The REal FAlcon
August 6th, 2012
6:52 am
Hope we get some real coverage
D man
August 6th, 2012
7:32 am
I was happy to see the preseason finally get here last night. Saints looked good first time out. I did like the way the Cardnals ran against them. Cards defense was horrible as always though.
Time to watch some Falcon football today in Dalton. Let’s go Falcons…
TommyP
August 6th, 2012
7:52 am
Good article, DOL.
If you’re a fan of fantasy football, visit http://www.toptierfootball.com as drafts are going on all this month. Make sure to access the TIPs feature that gives a ceiling, floor and target set of stats for every player.
We’ll also be there at the scrimmage today. I’ll be looking for you, DOL!
We have a feature up on Matt Ryan on the main page. Check us out.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
August 6th, 2012
8:16 am
TommyP – Thanks for servicing out fantasy football fans and telling us about your Matt Ryan feature. We’ll see you up there in a few hours.
SeenThis B4
August 6th, 2012
8:49 am
@D man: I liked the way the Saints defense got after the Arizona QBs. That being said, I’ll pay particualar attention to how the falcan’t number 1s do against the Raven 1s on Thursday, let’s see how crisp and accurate those first two series are.
NFC South Morning Jog: 2 Injuries, 2 Stars Blur the Saints WR4 Position Battle | Scripting4You Blog
August 6th, 2012
9:33 am
[...] and the Tennessee Titans meet Monday in Dalton, Ga. for a combined practice. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, combined practices have a history of getting heated between these two [...]
NFC South Morning Jog: 2 Injuries, 2 Stars Blur the Saints WR4 Position Battle | :: Sparxxrx LLC ::
August 6th, 2012
9:40 am
[...] and the Tennessee Titans meet Monday in Dalton, Ga. for a combined practice. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, combined practices have a history of getting heated between these two [...]
Slim Junction Pedalmaster
August 6th, 2012
10:15 am
I miss Glanville
Michael M.
August 6th, 2012
10:26 am
I see the Saints Squeaked by the Arizona Cardinals on the highlight film in a meaningless game. They were really just a tad batter than the Cardinals in overall stats. One thing about it , you can’t turn the ball over to that team as they will burn you every time.
Here it is with Cards first :
Interception Returns (Number-Yards) 1 – 0 Interception Returns (Number-Yards) 2 – 47
Penalties (Number-Yards) 2 – 9 Penalties (Number-Yards) 4 – 25
Fumbles (Number-Lost) 1 – 0 Fumbles (Number-Lost) 3 – 1
D-led , we have a history of fighting among each other over the internet airwaves, so it is nothing new that our football team fights too on the field. ” Lets get ready to Rumbleeeeeeeeeeeeee “
SeenThis B4
August 6th, 2012
10:35 am
LOL! Hey Michael M., you do realize that the “e” in rumble is silent, right?
Michael M.
August 6th, 2012
10:53 am
I knew I would catch me a fish if I put a worm on the line ! ha ! ha !
Dr. EB
August 6th, 2012
12:23 pm
I wish I could see this.
lowdownjj
August 6th, 2012
12:24 pm
Falcons need some toughness on that O-line. Havnt seen much fighting since Dahl left…or much sucess in 4th and short
D Money
August 6th, 2012
4:22 pm
The only thing I’m interested in seeing is how the Oline may look. I know it’s early but if there’s no clear favorite for the RG position, then it may be a long year. We knew going into the year we were weak at RG and we didn’t address it. Not the best move IMO.
matt
August 6th, 2012
5:26 pm
Falonc-Titans have history ? Typo?
@spencaman
August 6th, 2012
5:28 pm
FALONC-titans rivalry?? Spell check does not work on your main page???
hiramsaint
August 6th, 2012
6:13 pm
and the failclowns have a history of playoff losses !
Shrimp&Grits
August 6th, 2012
6:20 pm
Weez gun eat some red tide shimp. dey good for birthin’.
Ummm...nothing will matter for the Falcants this season
August 6th, 2012
8:07 pm
Funny how FAILCANTS fans like Mikey M talk more about the Saints than his own team…lmao…no wonder the FAILCANTS are perennial losers, like their fans….
Bree’s looked awesome last night…he will torch the FAILCANTS….fact….
Saints troll strikes again….
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August 10th, 2012
9:20 am
[...] summer many teams get into scuffles all around the country, but this week seems as if the Jets are the only team getting [...]
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August 10th, 2012
12:01 pm
[...] 10, 2012 | Posted by Admin in New York JetsNo commentsEvery summer many teams get into scuffles all around the country, but this week seems as if the Jets are the only team getting [...]