ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The Falcons kicked off rookie minicamp on Friday.
“It’s like drinking through a fire hose,” Stefanski said, as the players will aim to digest as much as they can over the next three days.
The Falcons’ first pick in the 2026 draft and brother to Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell, Avieon Terrell, was in attendance, but will not be participating in any drills after the sudden and tragic death of his aunt on Wednesday.
Stefanski addressed the situation with Terrell’s aunt in his opening statement.
“I do want to acknowledge the tragedy that A.J. and Avieon’s family is experiencing. They put out their statements and I’m going to respect their privacy. They know that myself and this entire organization is with them through all this,” Stefanski said.
Avieon Terrell is also dealing with a hamstring injury. Stefanski said he will be held from drills all weekend.
Sixth-round pick defensive tackle Anterio Thompson will also be held from drills this weekend due to injury.
Stefanski said he’s as eager as anybody to watch the rookies compete, but the goal this weekend is to not give them too much information all at once.
“The goal here is to give them a digestible amount of scheme so that they don’t have to think too much. These are young players that want to put their best foot forward,” Stefanski said.
“It’s not going to be perfect, but what we’re not going to do from a coach’s perspective is inundate them with all this information and then we don’t get a true sense of their talent and who the player is.”
Owner Arthur Blank, President of Football Matt Ryan and General Manager Ian Cunningham were in attendance.
23 tryout players were present, with four former Georgia Tech players on the list: safeties Omar Daniels and Clayton Lee, tight end J.T. Byrne and wide receiver Malik Rutherford.
The Falcons drafted six players and signed 14 undrafted free agents.
Two were former Dawgs: third-round pick wide receiver Zachariah Branch and undrafted free agent Cash Jones.
Jones played running back at Georgia, but was put with the wide receivers Friday.
When Stefanski was asked about Branch, the biggest thing he emphasized was his versatility.
“We’re excited because we know what he’s capable of… I think he has inside, outside flex. That word versatility comes to mind with someone that can line up all over.”
The rookies will join the veterans on Monday in phase two.
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.