FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons have parted ways with defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake and defensive line coach Jay Rodgers, the organization announced Saturday.
"After a thorough evaluation of the season, and with careful consideration for our team's future, we deemed these moves necessary," head coach Raheem Morris said in a release. "These decisions are never easy from the human side of things and we wish Jimmy, Jay and their families the best."
This news comes after a "disappointing" end to the 2024 season.
As a defense, Atlanta struggled for much of the season to find consistency rushing the passer. In the first half of the season, the Falcons ranked last in the league with 10 sacks through the first 11 weeks. After the bye, the Falcons did improve in this area, recording 21 sacks in the final six games of the year, which were second-most during that span.
However, that improvement was not enough to change their overall ranking for the season.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons ranked 31st in the league in quarterback pressure rate and total sacks. They tied for last in the league in sack rate. What's more, Atlanta's defense allowed an EPA of +0.08 per dropback, which ranked 28th overall, and an EPA of -0.02 per carry, which ranked 22nd. They gave up the ninth-most touchdowns in the league and allowed the 10th-most yards per game.
Asked about the future of coaches on his staff during his end of season press conference Monday, Morris said that the team would use this past week to evaluate their plans moving forward.
"I've been around the league for a while, and very rarely do things get a chance to stay the same," Morris said. "And there's always going to be changes from all standpoints, and there's always going to be changes you can do, especially when you start the evaluation process. I think the thing about being brutally honest with yourself, I think it's about being brutally honest with each other and really having the ability to go out there and really participate in order to do the best thing for our fan base and our fans."
Lake and Rodgers had just finished their first seasons in Atlanta.
Before joining Morris' coaching staff last offseason, Lake was the assistant head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, coaching with Morris for the second time in their careers after being Morris' assistant defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2006-'07. Prior to joining the Rams organization, Lake was the head coach at the University of Washington from 2020-'21.
As for Rodgers, he was with the Los Angeles Chargers prior to this season in Atlanta. He was the outside linebackers coach and run game coordinator in 2021 before switching to coach the defensive line from 2022-'23.
Atlanta will begin the process immediately to backfill these vacated positions, looking to hire the organization's fifth defensive coordinator since 2020.
