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What we learned from third day of Falcons minicamp


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Good pre third day presser with Arthur Smith at bottom.

 

What we learned from third day of Falcons minicamp 

Matt Ryan and quarterbacks take target practice, a non-kicker FG contest and more from Day 3

Jun 10, 2021 at 02:42 PM
 

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Scott Bair

Falcons Digital Managing Editor

 
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Quarterback Matt Ryan fires a pass during Falcons minicamp

Quarterback Matt Ryan fires a pass during Falcons minicamp

The Falcons ran a long onside kick period near the start of Thursday's minicamp practice requiring players from most position groups. The quarterbacks obviously weren't involved and didn't have receivers available, so they took some target practice on the field next door.

Matt Ryan, A.J. McCarron and Feleipe Franksalternated working through a footwork drill designed to refine movement within the pocket before firing a pass into a net with three windows. Then they took another ball and tried to hit a tackling dummy on moving across the end zone on a cart.

If this sounds like an odd way to lead a practice recap, well, it is. It was also pretty fun to watch. Don't forget that head coach Arthur Smith remains in OTA mode, meaning there were more teaching periods than intense work at full speed. And not all minicamp moments involve serious football business.

This was a nice change of pace. Make fun of me if you want, but I took play-by-play during the entire thing and don't regret a drop of ink lost while doing so.

Let's put those notes to good use:

All three quarterbacks were dead on hitting stationary targets. The one that moved, however, was a bit trickier. The cart driver wasn't as consistent as the quarterbacks would like, leaving Ryan to demand (jokingly) he drive at the same freaking speed. Only he didn't say freaking.

The dummy got tagged often once the cart eliminated the starts and stops. Franks hit the moving target. Then McCarron. And, after getting close so many times, Ryan hit it with a walk-off shot to end the period.

Smith talks "authentic" leadership

The Falcons head coach used a powerful word during his pre-practice press conference to describe the best team leaders. It's not about being vocal or setting a great standard. Smith is right: there's one trait that unifies all effective leaders.

"They're authentic," Smith said. "The players see and hear everything. The know what's real and what's not. If a guy posts his workouts on social media and hashtags that he's grinding or whatever, and then comes in here and players look at him and see he's not what he presents on social media. It has to be authentic. The same goes for coaches. If you act like somebody you're not, players aren't going to buy it. It's about being yourself and proving it. If a guy says he's going lead by example and then works hard, guys will get in line. If he doesn't, guys will tune him out regardless of what he posts online."
 

A non-kicker kicking contest

Coaches will often reward their team if a kicker makes a field goal at the end of practice, helping a key specialist practice performing with consequences on the line. Smith allowed players to skip running at the end of practice with a made field goal, but he didn't let Younghoe Koo handle it.

 

A member of offense and defense took a shot from short distance and, if it was good, that representative's unit got to end practice then and there.

Defensive lineman Marlon Davidson took the first attempt, sent it straight through the uprights and then got mobbed by those in black jerseys. Tight end Lee Smith's offensive attempt went way wide right, leaving his unit to run.

Other news and notes

Safety T.J. Green dropped an interception early in the practice session and did push-ups on the sideline as penance. Marcus Murphy had a nice pass defensed in a full-speed period. The Falcons worked on punching the ball out, and offensive players did a nice job protecting it. … Most starting skill players save the tight ends didn't participate, as Smith tries to ensure his team enters training camp as healthy as possible. … The Falcons have four more OTAs starting Monday before wrapping the offseason program.

 

 

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27 minutes ago, ya_boi_j said:

 

Gage is a **** of a draft pick and find. 6th rounder. In year 3, as a slot receiver behind 2 solidified stud WRs and a 1st round talent tightend, he is putting up 72 catches, 786yds and 4 TDs. He is a quality player and I look forward to seeing him settle into this offense with Ridley, Pitts and Hurst. His draft status reminds me, that Darby could be a nice player for us too.

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8 minutes ago, FalconBlood said:

Gage is a **** of a draft pick and find. 6th rounder. In year 3, as a slot receiver behind 2 solidified stud WRs and a 1st round talent tightend, he is putting up 72 catches, 786yds and 4 TDs. He is a quality player and I look forward to seeing him settle into this offense with Ridley, Pitts and Hurst. His draft status reminds me, that Darby could be a nice player for us too.

my only beef with Gage is that he needs to go ahead and slide sometimes. I appreciate the effort but as a smaller guy, he needs to live to fight another play.

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25 minutes ago, belmont4213 said:

I feel like he had quite a few untimely drops too. Still a great pick and valuable player.

drops are gonna happen but there's not a game where we can say 'man that drop by Gage cost us the game' the thing I can say about Gage is if he did have a drop he redeemed himself later, usually by putting his body in harm's way; hence why I have no beef with him. dude has about 2 near concussions every game

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So it’s good to see someone else besides MR answering stupid questions from the media with sort of mundane answers just for the sake of answering lol.  
Uh, hey Russell, we need to make this about Julio so what things did you learn from julio? lmao.  Gage is like Uh this & that, but kept reverting back to whatever AS wants him to learn.  The media is never your friend period.  Fk em & feed em fish heads.

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1 hour ago, raysnill1 said:

my only beef with Gage is that he needs to go ahead and slide sometimes. I appreciate the effort but as a smaller guy, he needs to live to fight another play.

Getting away from Koetter’s allergic to YAC, run to a spot, stop, catch ball, get drilled route trees will help Gage. He could be a real weapon in the right scheme. 

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12 minutes ago, EpicBird said:

Getting away from Koetter’s allergic to YAC, run to a spot, stop, catch ball, get drilled route trees will help Gage. He could be a real weapon in the right scheme. 

I'll be happy if we just get away from having multiple receivers running to the same spot. 

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