FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Although the Atlanta Falcons held their first mandatory minicamp practice Tuesday, the on-field workload was rather light.
Head coach Raheem Morris provided a little disclaimer before practice — the third full-team session open to media this offseason — stating that would be the case, and he wasn’t exaggerating.
“We’re not doing much different than what you guys have seen,” Morris said. “We’re actually pulling back a little more.”
The Falcons had what Morris described as a “big-time jog-through” before practice opened to the media. Then, there were about 45 minutes of viewing time in which the team stretched, ran individual drills and closed with 11-on-11 work.
The 11-on-11 work, however, solely involved “developmental guys,” another Morris descriptor. That means neither starter Michael Penix Jr., nor backup Kirk Cousins took snaps at that quarterback position. Because yes, Cousins was present at practice for the first time this offseason.
Instead, Emory Jones lined up behind center and went up against a defense that — at one point early on — included three draft picks (defensive back Billy Bowman Jr., along with edge rushers Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr.), three returning players (safety DeMarcco Hellams, who’s coming back from an injury, outside linebacker DeAngelo Malone, who primarily played special teams, and cornerback Natrone Brooks, who was mainly on the practice squad), two tryout players (cornerback Michael Davis and defensive lineman Kevin Hester) and two signed free agents (safety Josh Thompson and linebacker Caleb Johnson) and an undrafted free agent (defensive lineman Simeon Barrow Jr.).
Of course, there was still a fair bit of rotation. For example, cornerback Lamar Jackson, inside linebacker Josh Woods and outside linebacker Khalid Kareem were in the mix.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Wednesday’s practice follows a similar cadence.
“Really excited about where we’re at in our offseason,” Morris said.