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The Atlanta Falcons are set to take on the Miami Dolphins Saturday night for their second preseason game.
While Falcons fans are eager to see first-round pick Kyle Pitts suit up and even veteran quarterback Matt Ryan, they’re going to have to wait just one more week.
Just as they did last week against the Tennessee Titans, the Falcons are expected to sit their top starters according to Falcons insider D. Orlando Ledbetter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The good news is, this is one less game for Pitts or any other top starters to risk getting injured. And head coach Arthur Smith made it clear that if he felt Pitts needed to be out there, then he would be.
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A.J. McCarron Will Start Again
Just as he did vs. Tennessee, A.J. McCarron will start again for a chance to rebound.
Last weekend wasn’t a pretty sight as he completed just 5-of-12 passes for 36 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He also ran twice for 11 yards and was sacked twice.
In just the first half, Atlanta was called for five penalties – three holding, one illegal block and one illegal formation, leaving Smith unhappy with the teams’ overall performance and the lack of helping the QBs.
“We did a very poor job of executing,” Smith told reporters. “We had way too many penalties that put us in a lot of bad, get-back-on-track situations. Clearly never got in a rhythm after that. I don’t want to overreact until we go back and see the tape. I thought the first ball coming out of AJ’s hand, he ripped it to Tajae (Sharpe) on one of those early third downs, and we got a penalty for illegal formation – tackle being too far in the backfield. Those are self-inflicted wounds, and I got to do a better job of coaching us. That’s the stuff that’s going to get you beat clearly. Tonight, we were not in a rhythm there.”
You can’t put the blame on McCarron since the offensive line failed to do their part, leaving it hard to find an open receiver.
“We didn’t do enough to help AJ,” Smith said. “You get out of rhythm. I don’t want to overreact. He got hit a few times, too. The thing is with AJ, the operation was a little cleaner, but there were no results behind that because of the entire picture of the offense in the first half. But you’ve got to give the Titans credit there defensively.”
The Falcons must cut down to 80 players by Tuesday, so tonight will be crucial for many, including McCarron.
A Lot of Hype Over Rookie QB Feliepe Franks
Undrafted free agent rookie QB Feleipe Franks seemed to be the star of the second half vs. Tennessee, despite completing just 2-of-9 passes for 16 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
“Second half, Feleipe, young guy, we want to be a little better operationally. But what Feleipe clearly showed is he can extend plays, so that was good to see,” Smith said
He also got sacked three times and ran four times for 76 yards, including a 52-yard scramble that fans went crazy over via Twitter.
Overall, we learned that Franks and McCarron are no Matt Schaub and the backup QB position is a concern right now, but Smith blames first-game jitters.
We’ll see what happens tonight.
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