Falcons notes and quotes from Aug. 27, 2019

Tuesday was the last day of practice before the Falcons take on the Jaguars in their final preseason matchup of 2019. Dan Quinn is unsurprisingly fired up about what most fans see as a meaningless matchup.

Here’s everything you need to know about Tuesday’s practice.

Aug. 27 notes

• Blair Walsh had a pretty good showing on Monday, Quinn said after practice, but that was not the case on Tuesday. By our count, Walsh finished the day five of nine, including some missed chip shots. Quinn did say after practice not to put too much stock in practice, so we’ll see what he does on Thursday.
• It was nice to see Kaleb McGary back out there with my own eyes. Quinn hadn’t confirmed after practice if McGary’s been medically cleared for game action on Thursday, but he was optimistic that McGary would get to hit the field for Week 4 of the preseason.
• Matt Gono worked with the first-team offensive line, and I’d expect him to get plenty of run on Thursday as the team decides how to handle the RT role.

Aug. 27 quotes

Dan Quinn:

• On this week of practice: “This has been an awesome week for us. We did as many situations as we could with the team, and some of those at full speed where you don’t normally get that. But we, by design, had some extra days from the camp space, and I wanted to make sure we got more looks at more situations as often as we could. This is probably the most we’ve done of that, of all of the different game management and halves and games and different spots. So it was totally worthwhile.”
• On his first Week 4 preseason experience and how it shaped his perspective: “My first one, I think I was at the Niners, and I remember playing the then-San Diego Chargers in Candlestick, and it was probably my first experience. Mooch said ‘OK, these guys are out,’ and I’m thinking, man, we’re not going to have a shot at this. And then I didn’t know the other team did the same thing. It was LaDainian Tomlinson, and he wasn’t going. I didn’t know that. But it was fun to see guys competing who were at the back end of the roster spot and practice squad to make sure they really put out. And so every year since then, I’ve had great regard for this game, because I know it’s one last final push to say, ‘I belong.’ It’s one last final push to say, ‘If it’s not here, it’s somewhere else,’ and so for all these guys that are going for it, I hold them all in high regard, and I want to make sure that if it’s not here, that we get a chance to have it go somewhere else.”
• On how much of the roster isn’t yet set in stone: “Not a lot, because we’ve had a lot of good looks at it. But I would say, let’s look at these two at one spot. Let’s look at these two at one spot. Let’s look at these two. You’d be surprised — there’ll be somebody who will return one for 100 yards and there’ll be an interception that’s made, and somebody’s going to make their case to be on the practice squad or to be developmental. But you’re right, a good bit of the group has been established, and that’s why there’s, around the league, so many of what we call ‘inactives’ on this night.”

Keanu Neal:

• On getting back onto the field: “It’s been great. It’s been a blessing. I’m excited to be back, getting back with the guys and everything. It’s been a lot of fun ... It was awesome. I had time to reflect before the game, and it really took me back. It was an awesome feeling for sure.”
• On what to expect with Dan Quinn in charge of the defense: “He’s going to let the players play. That’s one thing I will say ... He’s going to put us in positions to make plays.”

Devonta Freeman:

• On whether he’s nervous about getting back out there: “Nervous? This is football. You can’t be nervous about football. I’m just excited to be out there having fun, just competing. That’s all it is.”
• On the RBs behind him on the depth chart: “We’re one. We see each other every single day. We’re one. It’s a real brotherhood. We all help each other — they help me, I help them. There’s stuff that I forget that I ask them and they tell me the answers and vice versa. So we talk about off-the-field stuff and we just enjoy each other. It’s a brotherhood, like I said. We just help each other out the best way we could.”