The Falcons are thinking about all necessary precautions heading into this unusual football season.
They have even come up with a game plan for if or when head coach Dan Quinn tests positive for the coronavirus.
Quinn said on Friday, per Falcons’ team reporter William McFadden, that linebacker coach Jeff Ulbrich would step into his shoes and Bob Sutton would assist him if Quinn would need to quarantine.
Dan Quinn says if he were to go down due to COVID-19 for a period of time linebacker coach Jeff Ulbrich would step into his head coaching duties with Bob Sutton supporting him.
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Why Not Raheem Morris?
Raheem Morris seems like the go-to guy considering Quinn went right to him when he couldn’t fix the defense himself last season. Morris took the reigns and drastically turned the defense around the second half of the season. Morris also has NFL head coaching experience.
Even offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter would make more sense since he’s been an NFL head coach and knows the ropes.
Currently, Jeff Ulbrich is already the Falcons “associate head coach” and his position at linebacker coach isn’t as intensified as Morris’ or Koetter’s job is. So, Ulbrich, it is.
Ricardo Allen More Concerned for Coaches Than Himself
Falcons safety Ricardo Allen is putting all of his trust into how that Falcons have been making sure the players are safe.
He’s also relying heavily on the testing.
“I try to believe in those tests”, Allen told ESPN. If those tests come back and show me that I’m negative and I know that I’ve been doing the right things. That’s giving me my freedom to go out there. I hope that everyone can get tested every day and they get the stuff back as fast as possible. I just try to keep it at that.”
While he knows he’s not immune to catching the virus, he’s more concerned for the coaches’ health.
“I don’t think I’m immune to it. I don’t think I can’t catch it. I think that I work on my immune system I work on my body and healthy all the time. I’m a little bit more nervous for the coaches actually. I’m more nervous for them because they’re the ones who are higher up in age.”
Falcons May Try to Scrimmage at Mercedes Benz
Dan Quinn also said on Sunday that the Falcons will try to scrimmage ahead of kick-off at Mercedes Benz.
This scrimmage would most likely be between an A Falcons team versus a B Falcons team since teams are not permitted to hold any practices with each other.
Dan Quinn said Falcons will try to scrimmage at Mercedes Benz Stadium
A Scrimmage Would Be Very Beneficial
Matt Ryan gave the ups and downs of not having any exhibition games prior to the season.
“It will be different. I kind of like the (exhibition) season games to be able to get out there and knock some of the rust off … and be able to go through it”, Ryan said on Pro Football Talk last week. “Go through your routine. Make sure that you’re doing the things you need to do and make sure you have things ironed out. We’re not going to have that luxury. But I think (Falcons coach) Dan Quinn is putting together a really good schedule to try and simulate as much as we can on our own what that experience is going to be like.
“For a guy like me, I’m in Year 13. I think it’s going to be easier for a guy like myself having been through so many different situations, so many years, so many games played and feeling comfortable in those. But for our rookies and young guys who have not had that experience, I think we’ve got to have to help them out as much as we can and try and make them feel as comfortable as possible. Because when we kick it off against Seattle Week 1, that game is just as important as Week 17. It means just as much.”
Seattle won’t be a tea party, so the Falcons could use all the “real” practice they can get in.
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Falcons Game Plan If Dan Quinn Tests Positive for COVID-19