Falcons talk challenge posed by Daniel Jones, Richie Grant’s playing time in Thursday presser

A busy Thursday of press opportunities gave us a few insights on the state of the Falcons heading into this weekend’s matchup against the Giants, and we’d be remiss to not jump right into them

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T.J. Green will be up Sunday

This is not the team’s words, but I’m reading between the lines here. The Falcons said, via Dean Pees, that Green is someone the Falcons planned to get in the game at corner and/or safety against the Buccaneers. With A.J. Terrell trending toward not playing due to a concussion and with Green having entered the game in his stead last Sunday, it’s logical to think he’s at least going to take on a major role against the Giants.

If the Falcons are excited about him and Green can hold down the fort capably, he’ll like maintain some kind of limited role once Terrell is back. Let’s hope he’s up to the task.

Richie Grant may not play much

As I wrote in preseason, Grant looks like a critical special teams piece and has been used like one, being among the team leaders in special teams snaps. What he hasn’t had is a role on defense, which is frustrating when you’re talking about a talented second round pick.

What gives? Per Pees, the team doesn’t feel he’s ready yet.

It’s more than fair to suggest that it would be disappointing if the Falcons didn’t find a way to get Grant on the field in a major way in 2021. They drafted him in the second round, he has playmaking potential nobody else really has in this secondary, and this year is already in rough shape. Clearly, Pees isn’t going to trot him out there until he feels he’s ready, and we’ll just have to hope that proves to be sooner than later.

The Falcons are focused on Daniel Jones

The more time I spend watching and reading about what Jones has done this year for the Giants, the more nervous I get about Sunday. The Falcons have a long-standing problem containing mobile quarterbacks, and Jones is also willing and able to push the ball downfield. Atlanta desperately needs to hit him and not let him get too comfortable, something they struggled to do against the Eagles and Jalen Hurts.

To that end, the Falcons are using Josh Rosen and Feleipe Franks on the scout team to play the part of Jones. Franks, who has extreme mobility and a big arm if nothing else, will at least give the defense a rough idea of what they’ll be looking at, though Jones is much more capable of hurting them as a passer.

There’s no question, though, that the Falcons have to contain Jones or they’re headed for trouble and probably another loss.

Dustin Colquitt may be here to help Cam Nizialek, rather than replace him

Big emphasis on may. The Falcons brought in Colquitt, who has been playing in the NFL forever, with an eye on making a decision on their punter toward the end of the week. It’s also true that you couldn’t ask for a much better mentor for a young, struggling punter than someone who has been through his fair share of ups and downs over the course of about 15 years in the league, something special teams coordinator Marquice Williams noted today.

My guess at the moment is that so long as Nizialek practices well, he’ll get one more shot this weekend, with Colquitt standing by in case his struggles continue. It’s nice to see the Falcons not thinking just in terms of turning up the pressure on Nizialek, but also potentially helping him out.