Falcoholinks: All the Falcons news you need for Friday, Feb. 10

Friday is a day that you do nothing but read The Falcoholic. Ignore your boss. We’ve got Falcoholinks to set that whole plan in motion.

Ryan Nielsen hired as defensive coordinator

Been a busy week on the Falcoholic front, as the Atlanta Falcons officially brought in former Saints defensive line and co-head coach Ryan Nielsen as its new DC.

He comes in with a seemingly simple mission: Sound play and improvement, and while the Falcons’ defense enjoyed spurts of solid play last season, consistency has escaped this unit for quite some time.

With the exodus of some of the Falcons’ defensive coaches recently, it was expected that Nielsen would bring in some of his own guys to round out the staff — as he did with the hiring of former Alabama defensive assistant Dave Huxtable.

Falcons hire Jerry Gray as assistant head coach

The Falcons added a veteran defensive mind to their coaching staff, bringing in Jerry Gray as an assistant head coach. With first-time DC Ryan Nielsen helming the defense, it’s expected that Gray will play a strong role on that side of the ball.

GOOD NEWS

Always time for some good news on a Friday, right? Well, this week it’s about Kyle Pitts and his recovery from knee surgery, from which he is reported to be ‘on schedule.’ Tight ends coach Justin Peelle provided the update.

Pitts tore his MCL in the game against the Bears on Week 11. With an anticipated recovery time of 3-4 from an MCL tear repair, he is on track for OTAs and training camp.

Senior Bowl recaps

Our Kevin Knight is in attendance at the Senior Bowl, and he’s got notes from the each day of practice and the biggest takeaways:

• Day One
• Day Two
• Day Three
• Takeaways