{"id":233580,"date":"2025-07-24T23:51:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T23:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/233580\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T23:51:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T23:51:20","slug":"high-expectations-surround-atlanta-falcons-training-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/233580\/","title":{"rendered":"High expectations surround Atlanta Falcons’ training camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Tickets for the three days the public can attend Atlanta Falcons training camp, Thursday, July 24, Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, were sold before training camp opened on Thursday in Flowery Branch. Photo by Donnell Suggs\/The Atlanta Voice<\/p>\n

FLOWERY BRANCH, GA \u2013 The Atlanta Falcons are back in training camp. On Thursday morning, the gates at IBM Performance Field opened, and a sold-out crowd made their way inside to see the 2025 Falcons practice. The hill near the practice field was packed with fans watching, cheering, and occasionally oohing and aaahing when certain players made plays during drills.<\/p>\n

The expectations for the franchise haven\u2019t been this high for nearly a decade. In fact, it\u2019s been almost as long as the Falcons\u2019 current postseason drought, seven years. To be excited to watch a team that hasn\u2019t made the playoffs in seven years must mean something\u2019s up.<\/p>\n

The dream of returning to the playoffs, and maybe even the Super Bowl for the third time in franchise history, begins anew.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWhen we get to the playoffs, good things happen for everybody in this building,\u201d Falcons safety Jessie Bates III said after the first training camp practice on Thursday, July 24, 2025.
Photo by Donnell Suggs\/The Atlanta Voice<\/p>\n

Falcons all-pro safety Jessie Bates III talked to the media after practice, and I asked him what it would mean to end the streak and help the Falcons return to the postseason. Bates III said a playoff berth would mean a lot to more than just the team\u2019s players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a while, this is my third year going into it,\u201d Bates III said. \u201cYear one, we didn\u2019t get into the playoffs. Year two, we were right there. Now it\u2019s year three, and we reset again. I always think about that, I always think about how we can get to the playoffs. When we get to the playoffs, good things happen for everybody in this building.\u201d <\/p>\n

Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, a fan favorite over the years and one of the most clutch kickers in the National Football League, said making the playoffs could solve a lot of problems. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a young player, coaches used to tell me that winning cures all,\u201d Koo said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of the case in this business. We just have to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Second-year Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has a lot to do with those high expectations and will play a large part in whether this team wins or not. Morris and his staff, which now includes a new defensive coordinator, helped lead the team to eight wins during the 2024 season. That\u2019s nothing to sneeze at, considering the Falcons went 7-10 for three consecutive seasons prior to 2024. With a full season under his belt, Morris has a roster that\u2019s better equipped to add a couple more wins to the tally.<\/p>\n

The Falcons\u2019 defense, particularly the front seven, will have to play much better if the team is going to win the NFC South or grab one of the wild-card spots. <\/p>\n

\"\"The Atlanta Voice had an opportunity to talk to Atlanta Falcons defensive line coach after practice on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs\/The Atlanta Voice<\/p>\n

Defensive line coach Nate Ollie said the staff loves the guys the team has in the d-line room.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defensive line is the engine of what we are trying to do,\u201d Ollie said. \u201cEvery time we are watching that tape, I want to see guys repping our style, that\u2019s getting off on the football, that\u2019s attacking, and that\u2019s running in a dark room.\u201d <\/p>\n

If the quarterback position remains the high mark for a successful franchise. Enter: Michael Penix, Jr.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Penix, Jr. looked sharp, but more importantly, he looked like the QB1 is supposed to look. <\/p>\n

Back for his sophomore season, Penix may only have three starts on his resume (two were losses, and the only win came over the New York Giants, the second-worst team in the NFL), but he\u2019ll now have the luxury of coming into his second training camp as QB1. That comes with more reps with first-team receivers, including the team\u2019s best, Drake London and Darnell Mooney.<\/p>\n

Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts looked good on the first day of training camp, as well. The subject of trade rumours and social media critique for his play, Pitts is coming up on the last year of his contract. <\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tickets for the three days the public can attend Atlanta Falcons training camp, Thursday, July 24, Saturday, July…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,6709,2792,47742,4130,224,7,47743,2664,1070,18665,12629,56,6,2663,505,19316,8896,8337],"class_list":{"0":"post-233580","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-darnell-mooney","12":"tag-defensive-coordinator","13":"tag-donell-suggs","14":"tag-drake-london","15":"tag-falcons","16":"tag-football","17":"tag-ibm-performance-field","18":"tag-jessie-bates-iii","19":"tag-jr","20":"tag-michael-penix","21":"tag-nate-ollie","22":"tag-new-york-giants","23":"tag-nfl","24":"tag-raheem-morris","25":"tag-super-bowl","26":"tag-the-atlanta-voice","27":"tag-training-camp","28":"tag-younghoe-koo"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114910900433449110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}