Via our own Jason Kirk via the Official Site's Jay Adams Daniel Cox comes the news that Peria Jerry and Harry Douglas are participating in full-team drills once more. Huzzah!
Obviously, both these guys are going to be critical to the team's success in 2010. Jerry, when healthy, should be a pass-rushing presence and someone who gets very heavy snaps in the rotation at defensive tackle. Douglas, when healthy, is a burner who should provide defenses another look beyond Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White and the specter of Michael Jenkins.
Without Jerry, this team simply doesn't look as strong up the middle. If he wasn't healthy for the Steelers game, you'd be looking at the terrifying combination of rookie Corey Peters and buffet warrior Thomas Johnson, which just isn't good news against a team that likes to pound the ball up the middle. Having Douglas back means the Steelers' shaky secondary has one more weapon to deal with, and I seriously doubt they'll hold together in the face of the firepower that our passing game offers.
And you'll realize in a hurry how much the Falcons missed them last year. As Jason points out in his write-up over at SBN Atlanta, the two combined for 71 snaps last season. To put that in perspective, that's the average number of words in one of my sentences.
Of course, Mike Smith sounded a cautionary note, saying both have to show they're healthy over the rest of training camp. I have every bit of faith that they will, and so should you.