After spending seven seasons with the Falcons, John Abraham is set to face his former team for the first time Sunday since joining the Cardinals this year.
The linebacker, who was let go from the Falcons early this year, said he's moved on from the parting and understands it was a business decision. He's now choosing not to dwell on it and instead is focused on his new team.
Heading into Sunday's game, he's excited to face his former teammates and having the experience of being on the opposite side of a team he knows very well.
"I know everybody I'm seeing, so it's going to be fun," Abraham said. "It'll be the first time we play against each other so it'll be nice for everybody because we've only practiced with each other, we've never played against each other. So now we get the opportunity."
Although the meeting does carry a little extra meaning for Abraham, he admits that it would be more emotional for him if it was taking place in front of the Georgia Dome crowd. Instead, with the Falcons travelling to Arizona, the focus remains to just get another win.
"For us, we're trying to get 4-4," he said. "That's our biggest thing. It would be different if I was coming back to the Dome, but them coming here is just the next opponent. If we would have played in Atlanta, then I might be more emotional but here it's just the next team up."
Although leaving the Falcons abruptly was at first a shock to him, Abraham admits it might have been a blessing in disguise. The move prevented him from getting too comfortable with a team and the change in setting has challenged him as a player, as he's now changed to an outside linebacker.
He also adds that he harbors no hard feelings towards the Falcons and actually credits the team for giving him the love of the game back when he first joined them in 2006.
Given the past history and how the season is progressing for both teams, Abraham knows the end result is sure to be an interesting competition on the field, something that Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan agrees with.
"We know he's going to be fired up and ready to play," Ryan said. "We know he's a really good player, and he's having a great year. He's off to a really fast start, he played a lot of snaps against Seattle last week in the Thursday night game that they played and played extremely well so we'll certainly have to identify where he's at."
