Players were hard at work again during day 8 of 2014 XFINITY Atlanta Falcons Training Camp. Tomorrow the Falcons will participate in a combined practice with the Tennessee Titans.
1. Injury Updates: The Falcons had a scary moment during XFINITY® Atlanta Falcons Training Camp on Sunday when second-year offensive tackle Terren Jones went down during 11-on-11s and remained motionless on the field for some time. Immediately attended to by the Athletic Performance staff, Jones was eventually strapped to a stretcher and taken to an ambulance by cart.
"We certainly hope Terren is going to be all right," head coach Mike Smith said. "We don't have any update right now, but as soon as we do, we'll release that information. Any time a player doesn't leave the field on his own power, you're always concerned about it."
Smith said Jones was taken to a local hospital.
Rookie defensive end Ra'Shede Hageman also left the field during Sunday's practice after an altercation with center Joe Hawley during O-line/D-line work. Smith didn't have an update on Hageman's condition.
2. New Safety Getting Caught Up: The addition of veteran safety Tyrell Johnson was so abrupt Sunday that the new addition was being introduced to his new teammates on the sideline during practice. Johnson spent much of his time Sunday shadowing secondary coach Tim Lewis and defensive backs coach Joe Danna. As a five-year veteran, Smith believes that Johnson will be able to get caught up fairly quickly as camp proceeds.
"I'm very confident that we can get him up to speed," Smith said. "He's played a lot of games in the NFL. He's played both strong and free safety. We did a lot of work on him when he was coming out (in 2008). It was our first draft class and I do remember spending lots of time on him. We know what he is in terms of being able to play both strong and free safety."
3. Limiting the Scuffles: With the Tennessee Titans coming to town Monday for a combined practice (that is open to the public and begins at 3 p.m.), the threat of some dust-ups between the two teams is likely higher, but Smith is trying to limit those types of incidences between the guys wearing the same color jersey. Sunday saw a couple of more skirmishes between the Falcons and Smith is re-iterating to his team that when he tells his players they're fighting for positions, he doesn't mean literally.
"We're all talking about competing and fighting for jobs, but we're not talking about fighting each other," Smith said. "We've got to understand that. It's not what we're about. We're about competing and going out and trying to win a job, but we're not about fighting one another. That's something that happens when it gets hot and (Sunday), it was hot — or hotter than what we've been used to practicing, but we've definitely got to get that fixed."
4. Fast Even When Slowed: Undrafted rookie wide receiver Bernard Reedy is fast. We've established that through the offseason and into the first two weeks of camp, but even when he's slowed down by an unexpected adversary, he's still able to rise to the occasion. Before the annual Kia Motors Friday Night Lights event, Reedy was dogged by a bad headache that was bothering him, yet he still came out and out on a show.
"I wasn't really talking too much," Reedy said Sunday. "I just decided to run fast, but the faster I was running, my head started hurting, so sometimes I was trying to gas it out a little bit."
Reedy has continued to impress throughout camp as he battles several other young wide receivers for one fo the coveted spots on the 53-man roster.
5. Worrilow Noticing Big Difference in Year 2: Paul Worrilow's read-and-react ability in Year 2 is something that's become evident through a week-and-a-half of training camp and even he's taken a moment to marvel at just how far he's come. Watching him during team periods, the confidence that he exudes as the main communicator on defense has been a stark contrast to where he was last year.
"All these things, I've already seen these before, so I'm going through what last year would have been growing pains," Worrilow said Sunday. "Just my on-field awareness, I'm a lot more prepared out there, which lets you play faster."