UPDATED: 6:49 p.m. The Atlanta Falcons opened 2011 Russell Athletic Training Camp this morning with a brief walk-thru that was spent just getting into the rhythm and feeling of practice. The Falcons will take the field again this afternoon for a 3:25 session that will be open to the public. Gates open at 2:25 p.m.
6:49 p.m. — Camp is over for the day and I wasn't able to update here as much as I would have liked. My apologies. But you can take a look at all of our Day 1 coverage right here.
3:19 p.m. — The gates opened for the second session of camp just about an hour ago and a good amount of fans made their way inside. They'll get a good peak at what the 2011 Falcons look like during the first non-walk-through practice of camp.
1:50 p.m. — OK, phew. Obviously a crazy half hour as I received a call that we agreed to terms with free agent defensive end . Lots of excitement around here right now. As soon as I get more on this, I'll be sure to share.
11:35 a.m. — Well, folks, 2011 Russell Athletic Atlanta Falcons Training Camp is underway, and I'll be keeping a series of these blog posts throughout camp to bring you everything I see and experience in one place. We like rhyming, so they'll be called, "Jay's Day."
The Falcons took the field this morning at 9:45 for a one-hour walk-thru with no pads or helmets. It was spent getting into formations and installing parts of the playbook.
All the members of the 2011 Falcons Draft Class were on the field participating this morning, including first-round pick Julio Jones.
Players the Falcons agreed to terms with in the past 24 hours — including linebackers Mike Peterson and Stephen Nicholas, and offensive lineman Tyson Clabo — will not participate in camp today because they cannot sign their contracts until 6 p.m. today, per league rules.
Matt Ryan, Mike Smith, Todd McClure, Kerry Meier and Sean Weatherspoon all spoke with the media. Here are some of the tidbits I picked up:
Coach Smith: We are gauging the first few days of camp to see where players are physically right now.
Coach Smith: Our rookies are swimming more than any other year. We are going to improvise and adjust.
Matt Ryan: First walk-thru was productive. We are going to have to be creative the first few days of camp.
Matt Ryan: Smitty has done a great job of getting us organized and ready in a short period of time.
Todd McClure: Getting as many of the guys back if front as we can would be huge. We had a pretty good thing going.
Todd McClure: I feel good about where we are as a team. Being in the same system for the past hour years is helping us out.
Kerry Meier: It was great being in meetings last year days after knee surgery. It's going to pay dividends.
Photos and videos are coming.
