Getty Auburn defensive lineman Marlon Davidson #3.
A week ago, Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn confirmed that rookie DT Marlon Davidson had a knee strain and would miss a few days of practice.
Now, it looks like it could be a few more weeks, though Quinn doesn’t seem overly concerned about it.
“Not concerned from certainly a learning standpoint because this guy really gets the football part of it,” coach Dan Quinn said via the Atlanta Journal-Consitution. “The conditioning part, he’s pushing it. But now, just the flow of it and getting into it. We’re excited to get him back on the field and that’s coming soon. So for us, knowing that he’s pushing it and getting there … for game conditioning, it will take a few weeks to get into the right space for sure.”
With kickoff less than two weeks away, there’s still no confirmation that Davidson will be ready to compete in the Falcons’ home opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
Also, Know As Grady Jarrett’s Twin
Quinn’s biggest emphasis this offseason has been about wanting to get more pass rush from the interior. Thoma Dimitroff and Quinn fulfilled Atlanta’s defensive needs when they selected Davidson in the second round of this year’s draft.
Davidson is one powerful weapon next to Grady Jarrett. In fact, the two are nearly identical.
Jarrett weighs in at 303 pounds and Davidson is just about the same size. They each have size 10 hands and both have nimble feet. They both know how to shoot gaps and absolutely disrupt the run and quarterback pressure. They also share a “ready to eat” mentality.
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Davidson Soaking In Knowledge At Camp
The former Auburn Tiger, Davidson has been taking in as much knowledge as possible from Jarrett during camp.
“I’m like a gnat at a barbeque with Jarrett. I’m following him everywhere I got to go, Davidson said via Atlanta Falcons’ official Twitter. You know, just trying to mimic him; mimic his style, mimic his play. Just trying to find some little things to tighten up my game and be different.”
Davidson played four seasons at Auburn where he recorded 90 solo tackles, 28 tackles for a loss, and 14.5 sacks. He played primarily at defensive end in 2019 and had a career-best 6.5 sacks.
What Happens If Davidson Is Out Week 1?
It would be a bummer not to see Davidson get some action in week 1, however the Falcons have a fairly solid depth chart. Second-year defensive end, John Cominsky would move up the depth chart.
The Falcons traded up in the fourth round in the 2019 draft to snag Cominsky in hopes he would add some fire to the defensive line. He only played 100 snaps last season, but this year he’ll be seeing the field a lot more.
Quinn said back in May that Comnisky will be more versatile and play defensive end on early downs and switch to the interior in passing situations to play defensive tackle in their nickel package.
“[In our] base package we’re going to keep him at defensive end and then we do want to see him work some inside, we did that some last year and that was part of his progression,” Quinn told the local media on Tuesday. “First and second downs [he will play] defensive end and then on some third down scenarios, definitely work him inside.”
The Falcons also have Tyler Davidson and Takk McKinley in rotation.
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