FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Matthew Judon is set to head to Atlanta (pending a physical) after the Falcons agreed to terms with the New England Patriots to send a 2025 third-round pick in exchange for the Pro Bowl pass rusher on Thursday morning. Perhaps the move inspired Atlanta's defense, which turned in a strong effort on the field during the day's practice session.
Kirk Cousins, Drake London and the rest of the Falcons' offense put on a deep-ball clinic in the previous practice, and it seems like the defense took that personally. Atlanta's defenders responded by making life hard on the team's new quarterback. A rough count had the Falcons' defense holding Cousins to 13 of 28 on his pass attempts for the day. That's a drastic change in the veteran passer's efficiency compared to how he's looked otherwise.
"The most exciting thing is this (is) day-whatever-of-camp, the energy has not fallen off at all," safety Jessie Bates III said. "There hasn't been a lot of fights, we're getting really good work. ... It's an exciting time for the Falcons. And the way that we're coming out here and practicing, I think, is something special that we're doing."
The secondary recorded two interceptions on Thursday. First, safety Micah Abernathy picked off Cousins on a misdirected throw to Ray-Ray McCloud III. A handful of plays later, A.J. Terrell jumped OJ Hiliare's route and intercepted Michael Penix Jr. That marks Terrell's second interception of camp; the first was against Cousins during the team's Monday practice before taking off for joint practices against the Miami Dolphins.
"Coach (Justin) Hood challenged us to start attacking the ball out of the air," Bates said. "And for it to start with A.J. — I think A.J.'s been dying for interceptions."
Bates noted he had a similar play to Terrell yesterday against tight end Charlie Woerner that didn't go in his favor. The key difference, Bates explained, is that he went up with the intent of batting the ball down while Terrell "attacked" the ball with both hands and came away with the turnover. Lessons are learned every day on the practice field, even for Pro Bowlers.
Let's get into this defensive-packed day with some deeper notes:
Notes and observations
Roll Call: Before practice, head coach Raheem Morris noted that defensive lineman Zach Harrison (oblique), safety Dane Cruikshank (ankle), wide receiver Jakeem Grant (hamstring) and defensive lineman Ruke Orhorhoro (shoulder) wouldn't participate on Thursday. In addition, inside linebacker Nate Landman and defensive lineman James Smith-Williams did not participate in any full-team work.
Outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie was momentarily banged up on a play and went to the sideline holding his elbow. But after sitting out a few plays, he got back on the field. Tight end Kyle Pitts also limped a time or two after a play, but he quickly returned to action and looked just fine; he even scored a touchdown (more on that below).
Secondary SZN: As Bates described above, the secondary stepped up in Thursday's practice. From the top to the bottom of the roster, the defensive backs had themselves a day. The cornerback battle between Mike Hughes and Clark Phillips III continued, and the latter had an impressive pass breakup against Pitts. For reference, Phillips is listed at 5-foot-9 and Pitts at 6-foot-6. On the other side, Hughes had perhaps his best training camp performance. Whether it was against the first- or second-team offense, Hughes was everywhere. I credited him with disrupting five different passes, including one thrown to London in the red zone.
"He's had really good production," Morris said of Hughes. "We've had our normal practice status and all those guys are really out there competing and really firing me up. It's one of those things when it's hard decisions on coaches, that's usually a good thing."
Receivers dealing with drops: As good of a day as the secondary had, it was an equally rocky one for the wide receivers. Both Cousins and Penix started the day perfect on their first four passes, but things quickly trended in the opposite direction. London talked about needing to find consistency after following up his best showing of training camp on Wednesday with a lackluster one. After practice Cousins got in extra passes with London, Darnell Mooney and Kyle Pitts. That's not abnormal, but the group had a new addition. Terrell joined the group to defend the pass catchers.
Jesse Matthews, who has flown under the radar, had a nice practice in Wednesday's practice with three straight receptions — including a diving catch — while working with quarterback Taylor Heinicke. That seemingly translated into second-team reps with Penix on Thursday. Matthews had a single catch.
Red zone reads: The Falcons finished up 11-on-11 work with red zone drills. The defense got the best of the offense, but there were still some plays that broke the goal line. Pitts, Tyler Allgeier, Carlos Washington Jr. and Dylan Drummond scored touchdowns.
An update on the run: The secondary had a spectacular showing, but the defensive front also held their own. The starters, in particular, made it difficult for the reserve running backs to gain any yardage. It's always kind of hard to evaluate the run game without full-speed tackles, but there were several instances where the backs had nowhere to go and the defense went bonkers on the sideline.
Meanwhile, Allgeier had another good practice, including that red zone touchdown. With the reserves, the split was balanced once again. Avery Williams, Spencer Brown and Washington all saw reps in the backfield. It will be interesting to see who truly emerges as the third man, especially in these last two preseason games.
More observations
Our beat writer Terrin Waack, after covering the big news of the day (hint: it rhymes with Udon), joined practice to provide a couple of observations.
- Former Falcons wide receiver Terance Mathis was in attendance during Thursday's practice, with a massive entourage. Mathis, who played in Atlanta from 1994-2001 (including the franchise's first Super Bowl run), is now the head football coach at the local Morehouse College. His team was also alongside the field, taking in the action. Mathis had four seasons of over 1,000 yards and scored 57 touchdowns, and at one point the former Falcon led the team all-time in receptions and touchdowns.
- There was a fun moment between assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray and wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard during 11-on-11 work Thursday. Cornerback Kevin King broke up a pass between Penix and wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge near the goal line. The ref threw a flag on the defense, though. Gray, then, approached Hilliard, jokingly waving his cell phone at him as if he were showing a photo or video of the play. The two laughed, as Gray walked away.
"I'm giving the man a hard time over there," Gray said to the ref afterward.
Really, there were penalties on both sides of the ball. Most people – coaches and players alike – were chippy with the refs about their decisions. But nothing seemed outlandish or of concern. Just good fun, wanting the best for their respective units.
