In the Nest is an editorial series uncovering player personalities and the people who help the organization's gears turn smoothly off the gridiron.

This installment takes a deep dive into player nutrition and what it takes to eat like an NFL athlete.

Story by Amna Subhan

Early on in Drake London's NFL career, he'd often take pictures of his meals. The wide receiver wasn't aiming to post them on social media like most young 20-somethings. No, instead, he'd snap the foodie photos for the team nutritionist.

This is not an uncommon practice. Falcons director of performance and nutrition Steven Benjamin encourages players to blow up his text messages with hundreds of food photos, especially at the beginning of their journey with nutrition.

"He's very, very hands on when it comes to that stuff," London said of Benjamin. "He has his phone on at all times."

There's a slim margin of talent in the NFL, and nutrition is one way to gain even the slightest of advantages over the competition. So, Benjamin uses every tool at his disposal, including the power of observation; he can't fix what he can't see.

From a simple photo, he can assess players' meals, their portion sizes and check the timestamps for when they're eating. Through their message exchange, London learned he was consuming too much protein at times. While he could eat an entire steak himself, it's not exactly what was needed.

A small diet change like that is a lot easier to manage and sustain than overhauling someone's entire routine. Benjamin understands every little nuance of that often 1-2% margin, but his philosophy is to keep it palatable for players.

"We need stability, we like things to be status quo," Benjamin said. "When you challenge somebody with an overwhelming change for them, it's just like a shut off. Versus, if they send me a picture, I can identify one small thing or two small things to do, all the sudden that just steamrolls. And it's like, 'Man, I felt a lot better at practice. Or man, my recovery is a lot better now. Or man, I'm sleeping a lot better.'

"You get that very positive feedback and it sets off a light in their head, which hopefully has a domino effect."

He helped London make another similar tweak to his diet at the beginning of training camp this season. Benjamin observed London having "atypical" practices; he seemed to have less energy, and Benjamin saw him taking a knee from time to time. After approaching the wide receiver, he learned London needed to increase his carbohydrate intake before practice.

Now, London has a shake in the mornings to get in his carbs and calories. The result: London had a stronger finish to training camp than his start. Turns out, breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day.

Aside from London's morning shake, he really only eats two full meals a day. One may think that's typical for a wide receiver compared to another position like an offensive lineman, but nutrition is never a one-size-fits-all aspect of winning football games.

Benjamin breaks it down into three zones: bigs (offensive and defensive linemen), big-skill players (linebackers and tight ends) and skill players (defensive backs, wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks). Someone in the "big" category may eat a minimum of 4,500 calories a day — and upwards of 7,000 during training camp — while skill players might eat 3,500 daily. For reference, the recommended daily intake for men is normally around 2,500 calories.

"There's probably a stigma of offensive linemen just eating donuts and ice cream all the time, but I try to eat healthy but in just much, much larger quantities," offensive lineman Jake Matthews said. "I'm trying to stay away from a lot of desserts and stuff. Whereas one guy might have chicken breast and rice. I'm having three or four chicken breasts and a whole potato and rice. Just trying to put on good weight, not bad weight."

Although they may not show it, the skill guys need to eat a lot, too. Wide receiver Darnell Mooney consumes about five meals a day to keep up with how fast his body burns through the nutrients.

"I need a lot of carbs because I'll sit down and watch film and lose calories. As much calories as I can get, whether it'd be trail mix, a shake," Mooney said. "I probably have the highest mileage on the team, so got to get as much calories as I can."

Since Mooney was a rookie he has had a personal chef prep meals for him, but all players on the roster are free to eat at the training facility's cafeteria. And it takes a big operation to feed that many athletes.

On an average practice day, the kitchen staff will go through 360 eggs, 15 pounds of bacon, 20 pounds of burgers, 40 pounds of chicken breast, 30 pounds of seafood, 60 pounds of beef, 20 pounds of potatoes, 30 pounds of rice, 20 pounds of each vegetable and 30 pounds of broccoli alone.

Perhaps the most popular snack around the building is "PopCorners," a healthier take on potato chips made of kettle corn. Benjamin and his team order them in bulk from Sam's Club. Multiple boxes take up half a storage room and throughout the week those stacks will quickly get smaller and smaller.

"Basically one guy (is) taking a bag of PopCorners a day, and there's probably guys that are taking three or four," Benjamin said. " ... We just fly through them."

Athletes are often creatures of habit in that way, and rookie wide receiver Casey Washington is no exception. When Washington isn't at the facility there's only one thing he's eating — Cava. Like clockwork, Washington picks up the same meal, at the same location.

He's become a regular; he's sure the employees know his face at this point. He'll order one particular meal: a bowl of chicken, tzatziki, red pepper hummus, white rice and every vegetable option. He's eaten this meal at least once — often three times — a day since he was drafted, and he hasn't grown tired of it yet.

"Every time I eat it I'm like, 'That was really good,'" Washington said. "... It's actually fire, I got to learn how to cook it."

Wherever they can get their calories is, at times, sufficient enough. For defensive back Dee Alford, sometimes a burger is the easiest thing to eat. Alford admitted his diet isn't the greatest right now, and he's working with Benjamin on a plan and asking teammates for tips.

Alford said he's been able to get by without eating super clean because the amount he's running at the nickel position makes him lose weight quickly. While it's preferable that they watch what they eat, it's paramount that at minimum they're eating in volume.

"You got to (constantly eat). If you don't you're gonna lose your appetite," Alford said. "There's gonna be days where you don't get hungry, so it's kind of tough you don't weigh as much as other guys."

Listed at 180 pounds, Alford is the lightest member in the secondary room. He said he put on more weight this offseason and is now trying to sustain it.

Keeping up with calorie intake is perhaps the biggest hurdle in a player's nutrition journey. Weight loss can lead to a drop in a player's strength, muscular endurance or even cognition. That's why it's especially important during the hot, humid days of training camp.

It's a "free-for-all" when it comes to calories because players lose so much weight, sometimes 10 to 12 pounds a practice, during training camp. At a normal practice, offensive linemen lose six to eight pounds in just a couple of hours.

"Think about what it's like to try to come off the field and then regain 16 pounds afterward," Benjamin said. "That's really challenging."

A lot of what's lost is water weight. To combat that, Benjamin will administer IVs to help with hydration in those extreme moments of weight loss during training camp. If a player were to lose 16 pounds they would need to drink 2.25 gallons of fluid using Benjamin's 150% rule for hydration replenishment. He'd also recommend that they load up on carbs — pasta, potatoes or rice — paired with a lean protein post-practice to aid in absorbing the fluids.

Smoothies are a simple way to regain weight, too. Benjamin's staff makes about 60 standard smoothies in a big batch each day, and some are made special for specific players with their names labeled on the cup.

"If I identify a guy that's really struggling with his calorie intake, liquids are an extremely powerful tool to help guys get more right," Benjamin said. "I could sneak 1,000 calories in a smoothie a whole lot easier than I could tell them, 'Hey, go load up on pasta and chicken until you can't breathe.'"

Another helpful vessel to maintain weight is the facility's new baked goods section. With the Falcons' renovations to the locker room and cafeteria, they added a performance baker to the staff to whip up healthy versions of popular sweet treats. The protein banana pudding is a crowd favorite.

Eating those treats or drinking a smoothie is preferable to skipping a meal because just one meal will show up as a loss during their weekly weigh-in. Defensive lineman Zach Harrison, however, takes it a step further with an everyday check-in. Harrison gained 10 pounds over the offseason to facilitate a position change from playing on the outside to becoming an interior defensive lineman.

Benjamin helped Harrison put on the weight, but now it's up to Harrison to maintain it. It's not terribly hard because Harrison can tell if he's underweight just by looking in the mirror. He's weighed himself every day since he was a 268-pound defensive end at Ohio State. He's gotten to know his body well over the years, now at 286 pounds.

While a typical NFL player's diet may be intense, it's a lot more of an intuitive process, many have a keen awareness of their bodies. They can feel it.

"If I feel like I'm too light I gotta eat a little more. Maybe mix in more very-high-calorie stuff," Matthews said. "If I was super light I'd try to eat like a pizza or something because I need to put weight back on quick."

It's one person's job to know the players' bodies better than even they do, and that's Benjamin. Matthews said Benjamin knows every player's weight like the back of his hand. It also helps that he has a chart in his office detailing the weight range of every player on the 53-man roster. It's placed on the wall adjacent to his desk for easy reference on the spot. The color-coded list identifies healthy ranges which are decided between Benjamin, the performance and recovery team and the coaching staff.

Benjamin's office sits right between the locker room and the smoothie bar, but he isn't hounding the team on what they need to eat. Instead, he's always in their corner allowing them to come to him. He'll handle the complexities and the nitty-gritty of the margins while preaching simplicity.

Then wherever they're ready to take it to the next level, he'll simply ask them to start sending him photos during mealtime.

"I always try to craft the conversation and try to lay out the crumbs in order for them to eventually come get the cake," Benjamin said.