The Falcons essentially kept the status quo from their defensive personnel a season ago, outside of one significant loss in future Hall of Famer Calais Campbell. The veteran somewhat shockingly signed with Atlanta last offseason and went on to tie for the team lead in sacks with 6.5 while being a load to handle against the run.
There was a lot of speculation about whether Campbell would return for another season with the Falcons. Some expected him to retire, even though he clearly proved he still had some gas left in the tank at 37-years-old. Both Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot made their wishes overwhelmingly apparent. They wanted Campbell back if he decided to play another year; however, the veteran opted to sign a one-year deal with the Dolphins instead, and the two sides met yesterday for the first time since at joint practices.
Campbell had a lot of high praise for his former team, which isn’t all that surprising. It’s rare to hear any form of negativity come out of his mouth. He even praised Desmond Ridder after signing with the Falcons last year, citing a film session with Arthur Smith showed him that Ridder has the potential to be the next franchise quarterback in Atlanta.
So, when it comes to quarterback, perhaps what Calais Campbell said should be taken with a grain of salt, but he did have some positive statements regarding both Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. following the first day of joint practices.
“They do look a lot different,” Campbell said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter. “Even just the scheme, competing against the offense in training camp (last year) and then this year, they do a lot of different things. But you know Kirk Cousins is a legend in this game. He’s had a lot of success. He made some beautiful throws today. Then the Penix kid looks pretty good, too.
“He made a couple of really, really nice throws and good reads. I definitely have a lot of respect for that team over there. I think they are going to be really good this year.”
There were a lot of narratives coming into Falcons training camp regarding the Falcons quarterback situation, and understandably so. Atlanta did something totally unprecedented when they signed a quarterback for $180 million in free agency and then drafted another quarterback with a top 10 pick.
How would Cousins’ Achilles hold up? What if Michael Penix comes in with the first-team offense and lights it up as Cousins works his way back from injury? Could a mutiny arise amongst the rest of the team?
For now, all of that chatter has been put to bed. Kirk Cousins seems to be ahead of schedule in his return from injury. He’s essentially been a full participant throughout training camp, and the team is completely behind him as the starter, even though everybody has been impressed with the rookie Penix.
More importantly, both quarterbacks appear to know their roles. This is Kirk Cousins’ team, and Michael Penix is trying to soak up every bit of knowledge from the veteran quarterback until it’s his time. If that continues, perhaps there might be a smooth transition from Cousins to Penix after all. But it’s still just training camp; we’ll see what happens when adversity strikes — and it will at some point — during the regular season.
—
Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.