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Yesterday brought the team back from a single day off for more training camp practice, and predictably, there’s some news to be had from the day. Let’s get right to it.
- Takkarist McKinley is getting close to getting back on the field, per The Athletic’s Jason Butt. The Falcons will be cautious with their budding star defensive end, though, and it’ll be up to the team’s medical staff whether he plays Friday against the Jets. If we do see Takk, I’d expect it to be for only a handful of snaps.
- In that same piece, Butt notes that David Marvin is in line for kicking and punting duties Friday against the Jets. The rookie UDFA kicked for both Georgia and Wofford in his college career and has a big leg, as he hit 57 yarders multiple times in college. With Matt Bryant sitting out the game, this is Marvin’s big chance to audition for a practice squad spot, where he’d be an injury away from playing for the Falcons.
- Marvin Hall’s getting some hype from Matt Ryan and the rest of the team, and he showed up with a nice catch against Robert Alford, which is no easy task. Go ahead and pencil him in as the fifth receiver, especially if he looks impressive as a returner in the first couple of preseason games.
Matt Ryan just threw a rope to Marvin Hall on an out route to beat tight coverage from Robert Alford. Nice play. #Falcons
— William McFadden (@willmcfadden) August 6, 2018
- This is noteworthy: The Falcons spent some time yesterday pairing the quarterbacks up with the running backs, as an effort to keep themselves committed to throwing the ball to backs. That’s potentially good news for Devonta Freeman and especially Tevin Coleman, who felt criminally underutilized in the passing game at times last year.
To start practice, the quarterbacks are working solely with the running backs. Ryan and Co. working on their passing game w/ the backs. This is an area Coach Quinn has said they’re focused on, they want to utilize the running backs more
— Kelsey Conway (@FalconsKelsey) August 6, 2018
- Finally, the Foye Oluokun hype train will not slow down. ESPN’s Vaughn McClure reports that Oluokun continues to look impressive as the weakside linebacker in both 4-3 and nickel sets, and that he snagged a deflected interception off of Matt Schaub on Monday. Oluokun’s not going to start this year, but if he keeps going like this, he’s forcing his way into at least some limited time.
And as always, here’s our tracker for today’s action. Enjoy!