Friday, July 29, 2011

Opening day of camp...

Well, this is the day that we have all been waiting for since the beat down by Super Bowl Champs Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional matchup last year at the Georgia Dome. First day of camp!!! All the lockout issues are behind us, and there is nothing but smiles between all owners and players of each team, and will be for 10 years.

Falcons took the playing field this morning at team headquarters in Flowery Branch, Ga. It wasn't a full practice, just a walk through. According to the new CBA, teams can only have one full padded practice a day. Most teams will still have two-a-days, but one walk through, and one full practice with pads. After the morning practice, starting QB Matt Ryan stated, "First walk-through was productive. We are going to have to be creative the first few days of camp." Creative in the sense of helping out the rookies and dumbing down the playbook for them until they are fully comfortable with what the birds are trying to do. Second full practice is slated for this afternoon at The Branch.

A lot has been going down over the last 24 hours here in Georgia. Wideout Michael Jenkins and DE Jamaal Anderson have both been released. Both haven't been picked up by any team yet. Backup running back Jason Snelling is heading to the gateway to the west, the St. Louis Rams. Also, the Tampa Bay Bucs picked up free agent kicker from Atlanta, Michael Koenen. Big signing for the Falcons have all been multi-year deals. The Birds resigned OT Tyson Clabo, LB's Stephen Nicholas and Mike Peterson. And as I am writing this article, the wine and dine of owner Arthur Blank and GM Thomas Dimitroff is happening again, bringing in one of the top DE's in the league from the Minnesota Vikings, Ray Edwards. It's been a long time since the Falcons have had two top defensive end's on both sides in John Abraham and now Edwards. I can already feel it's going to be a good year. Next on the list is to get CB Brent Grimes and OT Harvey Dahl signed.And there is not going to be any holdouts from this year's Falcons' draft class, all have been signed including first round draft pick WR Julio Jones to a four year deal.

More updates as they happen...

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