Rookie linebacker De'Vondre Campbell said he'll be keying in on one specific area of his game on Sunday: Not biting on any of Travis Kelce's head fakes.
Kelce is the Chiefs' leading receiver with 57 receptions for 675 yards and three touchdowns.
When Campbell turned on Kansas City's film, Kelce's ability to fake defenders out while running routes stood out to him.
"From watching film on him, he [uses] a lot of head movement," Campbell said. "The big thing to containing him is not falling for any of the head fakes or any of the upper body movement and staying discipline."
The Falcons will rely heavily on Campbell to limit Kelce's production and defensive coordinator Richard Smith likes the matchup.
"He has really good shake ability," Smith said of Kelce. "He can set you up with his head and his body, so that's just watching film and getting the proper looks in practice to prepare for it. I like the matchup because Campbell is a big guy, just like [Kelce]. Sometimes people think you need to put a secondary guy on a big tight end like [who is a] really good receiver. This way, Campbell is the same size as him -- I'm excited to watch the matchup, to tell you the truth."
Campbell has seen his fair share of top tight ends as he's been matched up with guys like Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry in his first year.
For Campbell, it's his length and speed that allows him a chance to defend the physical and fast tight ends he's tasked with.
"The length of De'Vondre enables him to matchup size wise on tight ends and that was one of his skill sets and coming out it's been even better than we thought," head coach Dan Quinn said. "We know it's a terrific matchup, but you also get challenged for those. As a ball player and his coach to say, 'Alright let's go do our thing and play it straight up.'"
Sunday's game has all of the makings to be a statement game for Campbell: He knows this and is embracing the challenge.
"I fare pretty well," said Campbell. "He's an ultimate competitor, he's definitely top 2 or 3 in the NFL at his position. It should definitely be a good challenge this week."
