What we’ve learned about the Falcons through 6 training camp practices

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The biggest story through the first six practices of Atlanta Falcons training camp has been the rookie pass rushers, but it’s for the opposite reason almost everyone expected. While No. 15 pick Jalon Walker, considered one of the first round’s safest bets, has been sidelined by a hamstring injury, No. 26 pick James Pearce Jr., a risky pick on multiple levels, has been the talk of the practice field.

And almost all of that talk so far has been positive. Veteran safety Jessie Bates III, who is stationed near Pearce in the locker room, is the latest Falcon to talk about how impressed he is by the rookie’s gumption.

“A lot of times, rookies are a little hesitant to touch the AUX cord, but James is right there wanting to play his music,” Bates said. “He is voicing what he is thinking, and he goes out there and practices hard, too. You can respect that from a young guy. He’s just being himself, and that’s all we ask.”

Pearce being himself includes a practice style that has sparked two skirmishes with offensive linemen, and he’s registered multiple “sacks,” although the exact number is hard to gauge because defenders aren’t allowed to touch the quarterbacks.

“He’s fire. I love that kid,” defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus said. “He’s fast, athletic. He’s got a lot to learn, but seeing how he comes off the edge is crazy. He’s going to be a good player.”

Pearce, who may have gotten more practice snaps than any player on the team so far because of the time he has spent with both the first- and second-team defense, seems unfazed by the commotion he has caused on the field.

“It’s a physical game up front,” he said. “You have to play with some type of edge and passion. I’ve just got to be me. That’s who they drafted and that’s who they want, and they want the best version of me. It doesn’t matter about the scuffles, it just matters if we’re moving the needle in the right direction.”

Pearce is being mentored by veteran edge rusher Leonard Floyd, who signed with Atlanta as a free agent this offseason and played at the University of Georgia under defensive assistant coach Mike Ekeler, the same coach who recruited Pearce to the University of Tennessee.

“Since I was recruited in college, I have been hearing ‘Leonard Floyd, Leonard Floyd.’ So the chance that God lined it up for me to play with him here in his first year here and my first year here, I don’t question it,” Pearce said. “Flo is my guy since Day 1. Even when I was training in the offseason, he would call sometimes to check in.”

Meanwhile, Walker continues to stand on the sideline and stew because coach Raheem Morris is holding him out of team work because of a hamstring injury.

“It’s very minor,” Morris said. “The kid is chomping at the bit to go out there, and I won’t let him. I don’t want to turn this into a long-term thing. Sometimes you need to protect them from themselves, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Walker missed his fourth straight day Friday and has yet to join the team for a padded practice except for occasional walk-throughs and individual drills. His next chance to get on the field is Monday, when the Falcons will hold their seventh practice of training camp.

In the short time Walker has been on the field, it appears the Falcons are sticking with their plan to play him only at outside linebacker rather than train him at multiple positions. The missed practice time only further decreases the chances he can be cross-trained at multiple positions.

Offense hasn’t all been pretty

Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has “absolutely no problem” with quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s accuracy, but it hasn’t been a clean camp for the Falcons’ starter.

Penix has been below 50 percent completion percentage in at least two of the team’s practices, and on Thursday, he threw his first interception of camp on a misfire to wide receiver Drake London in the end zone that was picked off by cornerback Natrone Brooks. After that throw, Penix threw his helmet to the ground, then methodically kicked it all the way to the sideline. He missed London and receiver Ray-Ray McCloud in a red zone drill after the interception, but some of what may look like inaccurate throws are sometimes intentional by Penix, Robinson said.

“I have always thought Mike is an accurate quarterback,” Robinson said. “It’s been a great start for Mike, great start with the receivers. I’m really pleased with where Mike is at.”

Robinson stressed that the Falcons coaches are making camp intentionally difficult for Penix. Atlanta hasn’t held any seven-on-seven drills. All of his throws have come in 11-on-11 work. Robinson also has limited Penix’s options on some days, scripting the play calls to focus on short and intermediate routes.

Penix completed 58 percent of his throws in his three starts last season, which ranked 29th in the league in that span, but his coaches believed more practice time with the team’s starting receivers would boost that number headed into this season.

“We still have over a month before the first game,” Robinson said. “I think it’s just going to naturally take care of itself.”

Mooney’s absence shuffles WR room

With Darnell Mooney not expected back for at least two weeks after suffering a shoulder injury on the first day of practice, the Falcons are auditioning multiple wide receivers at his spot. KhaDarel Hodge, who made the Pro Bowl as a special teamer last season and is entering his fourth year with the team, has been a regular with the starters during practice, while DJ Chark, who was signed the day after Mooney’s injury, is seeing very limited action and has yet to work with the starters.

Chark was considering retirement when Falcons officials called asking about a workout, he said. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Chark has 216 catches for 3,100 yards in seven seasons in the NFL. He was limited by a hip injury to seven games and four catches last season.

“I was just running routes for therapy,” he said.

Chark was running those routes for quarterback Easton Stick, his teammate on the Chargers last year and now the Falcons’ third-string quarterback. It was Stick who mentioned to team executives that Chark still had something to contribute.

“He’s always had straight-line speed, and he’s a bigger guy,” assistant general manager Kyle Smith said. “He can compete for a spot.”

The wild card at receiver is David Sills V, who has 13 catches for 123 yards since joining the league in 2021. The 6-3, 211-pound Sills, who started his collegiate career as a quarterback at West Virginia, has been a favorite target of Kirk Cousins with the second team and even took a few snaps with the starters last week.

“He’s faster than you think,” Morris said. “He’s stronger than you think. He’s got great hands. He’s a smack talker. You like a lot about him. What I really like about him is the crossover talk you hear about him from the defensive backs.”

Cousins and Sills bonded quickly after Sills recommended the kids’ movie “Surf’s Up” to Cousins. (“It was awesome,” Cousins said.)

“I think he’s been a pleasant surprise, I think the coaches are excited about the role he could play for us this year,” Cousins said. “He’s a very natural player.”’

The problem for Sills is that he has played fewer than 30 special teams snaps in his career, but he has been working with all of the Falcons’ special teams units in camp.

Even if Mooney is not ready to play Week 1 against Tampa Bay — “Hopefully, he’ll be back pretty soon,” Robinson said — he is expected to be on the opening day roster. With London, McCloud, Hodge and Jamal Agnew (because of his kick return ability) all expected to make the 53-man roster, that probably leaves only one spot for Sills, Chark, Casey Washington, Nick Nash, Dylan Drummond and Jesse Matthews to battle over.

An under-the-radar defender impresses

There has been some positive murmuring about the impact free-agent linebacker Divine Deablo might make. The Falcons gave the four-year pro a two-year, $14 million deal to plug a hole at inside linebacker, but the signing didn’t come with a lot of fanfare.

“You see him run around, make a lot of plays, and a lot of people don’t realize how good a player he is,” general manager Terry Fontenot said. “He’s a low-key guy, but this guy is a really good player. He’s young, he’s athletic. Very, very excited about him.”

The 6-3, 223-pound Diablo, a third-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2021, had 169 tackles and two sacks in the last two seasons in Las Vegas. He has taken almost all the first-team snaps alongside Kaden Elliss in camp.

“I have been so blown away,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “He’s going to help us tremendously.”

Special teams makeover underway

With all the attention paid to the defense, it has been easy to overlook the fact that Atlanta is overhauling its special teams until this year, and it probably is a good time for it, considering the Falcons finished 30th in expected points added in the kicking game (minus-33.35) last season, according to TruMedia.

The most direct competition on the special teams unit is at kicker, where the Falcons brought in Berlin native Lenny Krieg through the NFL’s International Pathway Program to compete with Younghoe Koo. Krieg and Koo have faced off in three direct kicking competitions during portions of practice open to the media, with Krieg looking more impressive in the first one but Koo bouncing back to “win” the next two.

On Friday, Koo looked particularly sharp, hitting all four of his attempts from 47 yards or farther. Krieg missed two of his four attempts but hit one successful kick so hard that several teammates on the sideline audibly gasped.

Krieg can remain on Atlanta’s practice squad throughout the season without counting against one of those 16 roster spots because he is part of the IPP program.

Koo has been the Falcons’ kicker for the last six seasons and was one of the league’s best until last season, when he missed nine of his 34 attempts.

Agnew is expected to take over the punt return duties handled last year by Avery Williams, although McCloud also has fielded punts during practice. Agnew, Brooks, Mike Hughes, Dee Alford and Elijah Dotson all have worked with the kickoff return team.

In addition to handling punt returns last season, Williams was Atlanta’s leading special teams tackler. Richie Grant, last year’s third-leading special teams tackler, is also gone, and edge rusher DeAngelo Malone, last year’s second-leading tackler on special teams, is not a lock to make the roster. All that means the Falcons are holding auditions for a lot of jobs on their special teams units, and how those battles go likely will determine some of the final roster spots.

What’s this, now?

The most surprising revelation of training camp has come from Floyd, a nine-year veteran who signed a one-year, $10 million free-agency deal, who said this about Penix: “He’ll talk s—. Don’t let him fool you like he’s quiet. He talks s—. He makes that throw, he’s going to pop you.”

Penix’s quiet and calm demeanor has become his calling card in his short stint in Atlanta, and Floyd is the first teammate to reveal that he’s not always so quiet.

“Flo lies,” said the quarterback, a large grin emerging on his face. “I don’t really talk. … I don’t start it. Well, one day I did. One day, the defense got me to that point. I threw an interception and I’m like, ‘Nah, I’m coming right back at you.’”

(Top photo of Michael Penix Jr.: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)