Extra Points: Falcons Friday Night Lights wrap up
Check out one blogger's reflections of the Falcons 10 days into camp as well a cool photo album documenting Friday's intra-squad scrimmage.
- There wasn't a lot of turnover for the Falcons this offseason, which is exactly how they'd like it. The biggest changes were within the coaching ranks where new coordinators were installed on both sides of the ball. ESPN's Pat Yasinskas reflected on his time in Flowery Branch and said that although most of the changes don't qualify as major, there is a feeling around the Falcons that this year is critical. A solid regular season isn't going to cut it. Atlanta has averaged 9.75 regular season wins the past four years, but that's yielded no postseason victories.
- The Falcoholic noted that RB Jacquizz Rodgers, who caught one screen pass all last season, snagged one in Friday night's Friday Night Lights event at Peachtree Ridge High School. It's just one of the wrinkles first-year offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has implemented in preseason training. On Thursday, coach Mike Smith talked about the benefits of the screen game and forcing the defense to prepare for varying offensive sets. “When you're attacking a defense at different levels, whether you're doing it with the same guy or different guys, it makes you defend the entire field. That's what training camp's for; to not only evaluate the players, but to evaluate what we want to do schematically.” Expect Rodgers to be used in a totally different manner this season.
- The Falcons' Friday Night Lights event was an extremely fan-friendly environment filled with contests, inflatable games and lots of interactions with the team given that the scrimmage took place on a high school field. Take a look at this photo album compiled by The Atlanta Journal Constitution to get a sense of how close fans were to the action.
For more Falcons coverage, follow Mike Singer @CBSSportsNFLATL.
