So Thomas Dimitroff hopped on 790 the Zone this morning to talk to Alge Crumpler and JP Peterson. There's a couple of items worth delving into over the next couple of days, but I'm gonna start with the offensive line, because this is mighty relevant:
PETERSON: As we know, offensive lines take a long time to gel in this league. I talked to Peter Konz today about the non-verbal (communication) that you have to get down with your mates ... which is always hard. ...Just talk about their evolution and your confidence that they will gel together.
DIMITROFF: As Smitty has mentioned all week and I believe, there will be time (when) there won't be mistakes (and) there will be challenges. It doesn't matter whether if it's the right side and first-year player or the left side where they have a lot of experience. They have to gel together as a group. Anytime that you get positions changed it's going to take a while. This is about - we say this all the time - this is about the entire team. It's about the entire offense and making sure that they do their part. Look, from the day we got together here in 2008, there have been calls about this offensive line being challenged and I think they've done a heck of a job over the years and we continue to expect them to do a heck of a job as they continue to grow together.
As is typical for a Thomas Dimitroff answer, this one has a fun blend of optimism, vagueness and veiled insight. What stands out is "they have to gel together as a group" and "we expect them to do a heck of a job as they continue to grow together."
Injury may force the Falcons to shuffle Lamar Holmes and Jeremy Trueblood around, as Sam Baker can't play left tackle if he can't even play. Otherwise, it sure sounds like the Falcons are going to ride out the growing pains with the current group. I imagine that will change if things get really ugly over the course of several weeks, but this isn't really a surprise. It's just the way the Falcons do business.
Thoughts?