"Friday Night under the Lights" w/the Pros

[trublue 939]

I attended the ATL Falcons Friday nite under the lights event at Mill Creek High School in Gwinnett last night. Wow, I had never been to this HS field (I thought it was turf, 'til I remembered they don't have turf in Gwinnett) it was really a nice set up.

Anyway, the Falcons put on a first class event (free) for the fans. Parachutists, mascot, ATL Falcon cheerleaders performed at half-time, also some canine "frisbee" catching dogs the crowd loved ....and after the scrimmage players signed autographs around the fence.After that a very good fireworks display to top it off. Arthur Blank was there and spoke briefly to the crowd via microphone interview.

There was such an intimacy in having this on a high school field. I think the Falcons were truly surprised w/the turnout (over 10,000).

The Mill Creek varsity players got to stand on the sidelines during the scrimmage (they had on their jerseys) ....you knew it was really an experience for these kids.

They used 4 QB's last night....the first series, Ryan was 3 and out. His next series , first play, the bomb to Roddy.

IMO I think D.J. Shockley has the best arm (UGA) (so effortless) in his throws but he could be odd man out when decision time comes for trimming the fat.

Saw several Vick shirts in the crowd, and the team warmed up/stretched to "Sandman".

I don't know how successful the Falcons will be this year (some have said they won't win a game) but you can feel a different vibe about this team.

 

Following is AJC article about the game:

 

 

ajc.com > Sports > Falcons

NFL TRAINING CAMP REPORT

 

QB Ryan thrown into fire at Falcons scrimmage

Rookie hooks up with White on long touchdown

 

By STEVE WYCHE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 08/01/08

The things coaches look for in training camp aren't so much the obvious big hit or the slipping of a tackle or the beautiful long ball for a touchdown — such as the 65-yarder Falcons first-round pick Matt Ryan threw to Roddy White midway through an open scrimmage Friday night at Mill Creek High School.

 

They want to see how players, particularly young ones, react in certain situations.

 

So when Ryan first took the field on the third series of the scrimmage against the first team defense, in front of more than 10,000 fans, a pass play was called. He took a deep drop, but before he could get comfortable, blitzing outside linebacker Michael Boley was in his face, flushing him out of the pocket. Ryan evaded trouble but threw the ball well out of bounds.

 

Yellow flags flew. A grounding penalty.

 

"We have a lot of things that we are going to be able to take from this tape, good, bad and indifferent," said coach Mike Smith. "I thought Matt made some plays."

 

Ryan was hardly shaken by the ploy. Though he went three plays and out on his first series, he opened the second half with the long ball to White, who beat cornerback Blue Adams down the left sideline to get wide open.

 

"Roddy made that play," Ryan said. "It was pretty easy for me. He beat the guy off the ball really bad, and when you've got a guy like him to throw, too, especially when he's that open, it's nice."

 

White and Boley were the stars of the scrimmage, which was more of a showcase of the younger players.

 

White scored two touchdowns, the first an 11-yard hitch pass from Joey Harrington that he capped by diving over a pylon into the end zone. Boley opened the scrimmage by intercepting quarterback Chris Redman on a pass to White in the right flat.

 

"I went out to the flat, got under the out route and luckily made a good catch," Boley said. "I think it went pretty well overall. We got a lot of young guys on the team and they got a chance to get out here and do some live tackling. We got into a flow of being put in certain situations."

 

Both sides had their moments as coaches mixed and matched personnel and rotated quarterbacks with different backs and linemen. Quarterbacks were the only players who couldn't be tackled, but if a defender touched them, a sack was called.

 

Defensive end Jamaal Anderson was credited with a sack; something he didn't have happen once in 16 regular-season starts last season. Rookie Kroy Biermann also got a sack, tagging backup quarterback D.J. Shockley.

 

The young cornerbacks were not tested very much, as most of the passes were thrown in the middle of the field. An abundance of drops, especially by the tight ends, stunted drives.

 

The Falcons didn't showcase too much of their offense or defense, but backup tailbacks Thomas Brown and Jason Snelling showed their battle for the No. 3 job could be highly competitive.

 

Brown had several nice runs, often making the first tackle miss, while Snelling ran with power, good vision and excellent open-field speed.

 

 

First impression

 

Ryan, who played his high school ball in suburban Philadelphia, was taken aback by the high-end facilities at Mill Creek High's stadium as well as the overflow crowd.

 

"I think I got a little taste of what Georgia high school football is like down here," Ryan said. "I can't wait to catch a few games on Friday nights."

 

 

Technical difficulty

 

The Falcons had hoped to use the sideline-to-player communication device, which is available to defensive players for the first time this season. However, there were technical difficulties so plays had to be run or signaled onto the field.

 

Boley was the designated play caller on defense since regular signal caller Keith Brooking was held out by the coaching staff (rest).

 

"We've worked with it in practice, and it's worked pretty good, but unfortunately we had some problems with it today before we actually started, so we didn't get a chance to use it," Boley said.

 

Once the regular season starts, Boley will be the secondary defender to Brooking to where the defensive communication device.

 

 

Etc.

 

Defensive end John Abraham returned from a funeral to start for the No. 1 defense at the scrimmage. Abraham missed Thursday's practice session and the morning practice session Friday. ... Brooking (given a day off), WR Joe Horn (hamstring), C Todd McClure (back), OT Todd Weiner (knee), DT Jonathan Babineaux (back) did not participate in either of Friday's practices.