Atlanta Falcons News From Training Camp Day 1: Kirk Cousins Update + SURPRISING Depth Chart

[Music] day one of Falcon training camp is in the books and we got some news to get to on today's show Raheem Morris gave us an update on Kirk cousin his injury status coming back from the Achilles along with Grady Jared and then we got some sneak peeks at maybe the depth chart it's early in training camp like it's as early as it could possibly be it's day one but it's more than what we had in OTAs and mini camp it's our first real real look at the 2024 Falcons because up until then it was more of just offense and defensive install for some of the newer players now we're really starting to hit the ground running like rahee Morris said that what they want to focus on in the first week of practice is speed and competition you're not focusing on speed when you're focusing on install right you want to get things right not quick now you want to get things right and you want to do it quickly so let's start by talking about Kirk Cousins he was not placed on the pup list physically unable to perform and as a result he has been medically clear to practice which is really really good news some background here cousins suffered that torn Achilles on October 29th 2023 against the Packers on the road he's also celebrating a birthday soon he'll turn 36 years old in a few weeks so overall just really encouraging stuff to see Kirk Cousins avoid the pup list I never had a big strong feeling that he would be placed on the pup list we got a good look at Kirk during the Spring in ota's at mini camp and he looked pretty mobile and healthy to me I think if an alien came down and saw their first look at Kirk Cousins they wouldn't think that's a man that's looking like he's moving a little bit gimpy out there so overall it felt like it was always trending this way it's awesome to see uh Rahe Morris also added on saying Kirk Cousins will have minor limit itations but he quickly added in that you won't even be able to notice those minor limitations the only fear the Falcons really have is is anyone going to be at Kirk cousins' feet like that's the area to protect and in OTAs and mini camp it's a lot easier to avoid those types of possible you know mishaps or injuries because there's no pass rush training camp rolls around the defensive line has to do their job because they got to get the offensive line ready and vice versa so that's the only fear I think the Falcons have is we sure hope no defensive lineman just inadvertently gets pushed by an offensive lineman trips over someone and falls on Kirk cousins' leg that is a nightmare scenario so I think they'll probably avoid situations where that could occur but for the most part Captain Kirk he's ready to roll now when are we going to see him in a real Falcons uniform you're are the three preseason games I don't come from a standpoint of like I just talked to Kirk here's what he told me I don't think we'll see him the first two maybe we see him against the Jags like I'm sure we'll see him at some point in the preseason just because it's a new team new play caller I don't think they want Kirk Cousins breaking the Huddle for the first time in the regular season I just think they want him to get out there know what it's like to get a play call in a real game setting in a Stadium from Zack Robinson deliver it to to the Huddle so everyone in the Huddle also knows what Kirk cousins' Cadence is like it's not so much about getting Kirk Cousins ready it's making sure everyone can gel well together so I think we'll see Cousins play in one of these three games my guess is it'll probably be either the Ravens or Jags game and they're not going to push it with the first game against the Dolphins but overall just really good news for Kirk Cousins the Falcons and all Falcons fans across Atlanta like this was a bit of a gamble $180 million on a 3 5-year-old quarterback coming off a very major Achilles injury like those are not minor things or anything but all signs have been pointing in the right direction and pointing up for Kirk Cousins in his rehab which it looks like he's really kicked that rehab's ass so I just want to congratulate Kirk I've never popped my achilles but I can't imagine it's a good thing to have to bounce back from or work through so shout out to Kirk Cousins he clearly put in a lot of man hours to make sure he was ready for day one of training camp Camp so let's type his new number 18 down in the comment section next up I want to talk about Grady Jarrett he too was not placed on the pup list and he has been medically clear to practice he also suffered an injury a very severe one on the same day as Kirk although it was a torn ACL in that Titans game on the road which was kind of the beginning of the end for Desmond Ritter uh he turned 31 years old back in April so we're talking about two guys now on the wrong side of 30 coming off May your knee SL Achilles injuries those aren't easy things to bounce back from and just from an anatomy standpoint the human body is kind of most like most often at its strongest from 23 to like 28 is so that's kind of your physical prime when you're probably at your strongest but also when your body's able to bounce back and recover from an injury as quick as possible Right the older you get the harder it is for your body to just make that recovery so for Grady Jared to avoid the pist as well to start training camp that's really encouraging stuff the Falcons need him last year unfortunately his season cut short but before that 2022 team sack leader with six sacks now you multiply that or now that you add in Bud Dupri and Kus Campbell going elsewhere two guys who led the team in Sachs last year they're going to need a six sack type of season from Grady Jared because there are a lot of eggs in very young plants like Arnold EB Katy and Zach Harrison that they are hoping will grow into monster sack trees so hopefully we'll get some more good news from other guys that are a little bit banged up but in all reality like everyone's actually relatively healthy uh only one person was placed on the pup list that's fullback SL running back Robert Burns he's a new addition to the roster so no shame if you don't recognize the name but I'm not even really sure this offense we're going to see this year is designed to feature a fullback a lot I think we'll see a lot of three wide receiver sets so that usually means one running back one tight end so Arthur Smith would love to have a fullback like Robert Burns I'm sure with all the running back packages he likes to deploy but unless the Falcons have just a niche role carved out for him he's probably not going to be a main stay in the Falcons offense now we have more news to get to from day one of training camp but first let me tell everyone watching about our friend at game time if you want to get some Braves tickets some Falcons pre-season and or regular season tickets check out game time today game time is an authorized ticket Marketplace of Major League Baseball which means it's a lot easier to get tickets especially faster prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to the first pitch now one thing I really like about game time are their Flash Deals you can save even more with exclusive exclusive inapp deals on select seats ahead of games and events plus they offer the game time guarantee if you find tickets in the same section in row for Less game time will credit you 110% of the difference take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code chat sports for $20 off your first purchase terms apply but again create an account and redeem code chat sports for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed some other just general observations from the practice field at IBM's facilities uh Mike Hughes was in at quarterback 2 today thought we'd see Clark Phillips for sure now by no means is this a done deal it's day one of training camp but I do think it's something it's not nothing that Mike Hughes was with the first team defense over clark Phillips who was in that role back in the spring and the coaching staff spoke so highly of the former fourth round pick last year Hughes had 21 tackles two tackles for loss just one pass breakup we didn't see much of them right you had AJ Terrell play the entire season uh except for one game right and then you had Jeff okuda play most of the year and then when he was benched they turn it over to Clark Phillips so we don't have a ton of intel on Hughes but it's worth noting he was out there with the first team defense another bit of a surprise on defense Richie Grant was out there with Jesse Bates not DeMarco Helms which was the case back in the spring and the case to end 2023 so Grant one of three players last year who had over a 100 tackles I mean he had some good plays there's no doubt about it three tackles for loss three sacks six pass breakups I he was a menace when he got towards the line of scrimmage he was a bit of a liability and coverage though but I thought we'd see Richie Grant uh kind of serve as a backup to DeMarco Helms instead on day one it's the reverse but that's all it is day one now never miss any training camp news when you are subscribed we got 22,616 subscribers we're trying to get ourselves to 22,650 40 of you watching if you're not subscribed consider doing so it's completely free if you don't like the content you can always unsubscribe but I guarantee that if you give us a week you'll like what you see third and final note Zack Harrison running with the second string defense so if you remember the Falcons signed former Commander defensive end James Smith Williams who is by no means even a household name for above average NFL fans but he appears to be running with the first team defense more than Zack Harrison last year after after Montes sweat and Chase young were traded Away by the commies James Smith Williams started to have a bigger role on that defense up until he got injured at the end of the Season 22 tackles two tackles for loss one sack so not a huge body of work for James Smith Williams but all I'll say to anyone who's looking to kind of Panic or freak out it's day one of training camp and there was a heavy rotation going on like these drills are quick moving guys are const L going in and out I'm sure the coaching staff wasn't trying to find their 11 starters by sending out first few guys like uh like Mike Hughes and Clark I be your pardon Mike Hughes and Richie Grant I think the coaching staff was just trying to find good combinations and trying to find most importantly the best combinations so today it's Mike Hughes the first team defense my guess is tomorrow it'll be clerk Phillips if tomorrow's Mike qes and the day after that is Mike qes all right then we have a pattern but for now we've got a oneoff and if these guys Hughes and Grant are able to win the starting gigs listen I'm going to be pulling for them and I want the best possible 11 Defenders on the field for Atlanta whoever that might be for now it feels like that's Clark Phillips and DeMarco Helms but the coaching staff wants to give more of the veteran players a look to open up camp there are a lot of young players on this team I don't hate the idea of the coaching staff at least exploring some of the few veterans they have just to get some some experience on that defense all right some trivia here before we get towards the end of the show I've got three running backs for you Michael Turner D'Angelo Williams and Joe Mixon I want you to put them in order of alltime rushing yards for most to least we'll reveal the answer at the end of the show of these three guys who has the most and who has the least and then of course who was in the middle now some other Falcons news some renovation news uh cadero hod he put this on his Instagram story I want to show you guys it he revealed the Falcon's new training I Falcon's new uh locker room so we'll put it on screen for you guys and it's pretty awesome I mean if we're power ranking locker rooms in the NFL the Falcons locker room just jumped in the top five without looking at a single other locker room it's sick I got to Envision that these like individual seats kind of open up and there's storage behind and beneath it but yeah safe to say the Falcons they got some awesome new um like Just Swag and gear or most importantly sorry the word I'm looking for here is just locker room you know stuff for a lack of a better term I don't know I kind of botch that whole thing up there but the point is awesome locker rooms just take that and run with it uh they also reveal some of the new weight room additions they've been working out throughout the off season so they got like garage doors panel like um huge doors that open up right onto the practice field from the weit room so the Falcons had some homework to do from like a construction standpoint for the front office and not just the front office but for the ownership group because the NFL PA survey they came out at the end of the 2023 season it kind of ripped uh some parts of the Falcons facility apart and credit to the NFL PA survey because without it I don't think we see as many like radical changes League wide to a lot of key pillars to just overall player enjoyment away from the field on Sunday like locker rooms and weight rooms and just travel care whatnot look at the NFL PA grades from January I mean locker room F training room B minus so listen say what you will about Arthur Blank and his shortcomings as an owner and maybe some you know lack of winning from time to time but all in all the guy listens and he responds to requests F locker room fine give us a few months we'll give you the best locker room in the NFL and I think the Falcons did that all right going back to our trivia question alltime rushing yards leaders Michael Turner D'Angelo Williams Joe Mixon who's one who's two who's three the answer is D'Angelo Williams then Michael Turner then Joe Mixon so Williams of course longtime Panther coming in with about 800ish more yards than Michael Turner and then Joe Mixon who I thought it be a little bit higher up on the list but he's still in his playing days and he can surpass Michael Turner and maybe even D'Angelo Williams if he has one hell of a season this year but probably just turner is the only guy in his realistic sight so that will do it for us on today's show thank you guys for tuning in enjoy the rest of your day and we'll see everyone later [Music]