Atlanta Falcons: Lousaka Polite shines in his debut
081612 ATLANTA: Atlanta Falcons (20) Brent Grimes (from left), (11) Julio Jones and (32) Jacquizz Rodgers exit the tunnel and take the field to warmup for their preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Thursday, August 16, 2012. CURTIS COMPTON / CCOMPTON@AJC.COM
Fullback Lousaka Polite, who was signed this past Saturday, played well in limited duty against the Bengals.
“That was great to see Lousaka come in on short notice,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “You can tell he’s an old pro and studied real hard. He worked with [running backs] coach [Gerald] Brown after practice and had a pretty good grasp of what we were trying to do.”
Polite had a lead block to spring Jacquizz Rodgers on a 16-yard gain. He also caught at 2-yard touchdown pass.
“One advantage that I had was being old enough to know how to study and how to take things piece by piece and try to absorb as much as you can,” Polite said. “I didn’t let it overwhelm me.”
Polite, who played his college football at Pittsburgh, was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cowboys in 2004. He spent three seasons with the Cowboys. He has also played with the Bears, Dolphins and Patriots, who released him in March.
He was signed after Bradie Ewing suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve.
He has an interesting philosophy on being a lead blocker.
“You have to be aggressive,” Polite said. “A lot of times on offense people assume that you’re not as aggressive as the defensive guy. But as a blocker, you have to create space for runners. I try to take up as much space as possible and give them room to make their moves. They need room.”
After a slight delay by the replay officials, Polite’s touchdown reception was upheld.
“I thought I was good, but you can never tell,” Polite said. “Once they review it, it’s all up to them.”
While Polite had a solid game, fullback Mike Cox missed his two lead blocks. He was knocked down by Cincinnati safety Taylor Mays on Michael Turner run where he was dropped for minus four yards.
THE LATEST NEWS
GAME STORY: Bengals 24, Falcons 19
SIDEBAR: Matt won’t call himself an elite QB after completing 18 of 21
Asante Samuel admits to relaxing on A.J. Green’s touchdown catch
A.J. Green and Julio Jones shine in exhibition game
VIDEO: Post game presser with head coach Mike Smith
VIDEO: Matt Ryan, Lousaka Polite featured after loss to Bengals
MORE ON THE FALCONS
Bengals vs. Falcons: Julio Jones vs. A.J. Green I
Dominique Davis and Matt Ryan reunited
Polite knows waiting game in search of NFL job
Video: Mike Peterson taking over for injured Akeem Dent
Chase Coffman trying to make his way in NFL
Davis impresses in battle for No. 5 wide receiver spot
Bradie Ewing lost for the season
Game story: Ravens rout Falcons in exhibition opener
With Dent injury, Falcons take another hit at middle linebacker
Franks impresses with punt return
Q&A with Falcons coach Mike Smith after the loss to the Ravens
Jacquizz and James Rodgers have a thick football bond
Get instant updates on Twitter at AJCFalcons and you can join the Facebook Fan page at AJC Falcons.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
10 comments Add your comment
Atlanta Falcons: Nicholas all smiles these days | Atlanta Falcons
August 17th, 2012
12:35 pm
[...] Polite shines in debut [...]
FL Falcon
August 17th, 2012
12:42 pm
Two in one day…..
nikcanon
August 17th, 2012
12:44 pm
http://goo.gl/9EguK
steven a smith
August 17th, 2012
12:52 pm
If someone from another “Planet” dropped in to watch the Atlanta Falcons play the Cinncinati Bengals last night, they would probably come to the conclusion that Dominique Davis was the “Best” Quarterback on the Atlanta Falcons Football team. What say you Mr. D. Orlando Ledbetter?
JSS
August 17th, 2012
1:11 pm
Nice find, but he and others need to start blocking for Turner! Period!!!
SirReal
August 17th, 2012
1:12 pm
Steven a smith- Hold on there cowboy….I like Davis a LOT….WAY more than Redman or John Garbage Wilson….but to say he was better than Ryan definitely sounds likes you’re from another planet.lol
The Real Rick
August 17th, 2012
1:23 pm
DLed is it to my believe that we are going to see alot more of Quizz than we might see of Turner thorough certain stretches in the game? Quizz is looking more and more like he can run through the tackles and he hits the hole with much more pop than the Burner. I am a Burner fan but were they being really serious when they said his carrys would decrease? Only to see Quizz take them! Not that it is a bad thing!
to real
August 17th, 2012
1:56 pm
Its was a good start for this guy I would like to see him more as a lead blocker in different packages I dont like wat I see from cox he’s not getting tha job done @ this ponit hey Dled is it just me or our o-line hasnt dunn well in tha running game there hasnt been any push up front so far nor has there been any lanes for turner to run threw are we going to good attack both on tha ground and threw tha air or is it all about tha pass attack???
explosive fullback
August 17th, 2012
2:59 pm
Polite is “old enough” to create space.
marcus
August 18th, 2012
3:23 pm
I don’t think blocking in front of Turner is the problem he don’t get north and south fast enough I think we should talk to the jags about Turner for mjd .