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Speaker 1: And welcome back to the Falcons Audible presented by AT

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Speaker 1: and T. It's been a while. I'm Dereck Ractly with

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Speaker 1: my guys Dave Archer and DJ Shockley. We have been

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Speaker 1: on the what you would call off season break like

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Speaker 1: some people have. But guess what, we are officially in season.

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Speaker 1: We are officially back and we are happy to bring

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Speaker 1: you Falcons content because I know you are dying for it,

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Speaker 1: you're itching for it, you are yearning for it, and

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Speaker 1: we are here to help bring it for you. Before

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Speaker 1: we talk to the fellas, let's give you a quick

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Speaker 1: little rundown of what we're going to talk about today.

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Speaker 1: That way you can figure out how long or for

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Speaker 1: the entirety of this case that you are going to

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Speaker 1: join us. We will talk about some of the biggest

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Speaker 1: position battles as they will happen on the field. Training

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Speaker 1: camp has opened. Arthur Smith addressed the media today, so

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Speaker 1: we'll talk about him and his evolution his mindset now

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Speaker 1: that he approaches another season at the Helm for Atlanta,

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Speaker 1: where the Falcons won big in the offseason. We talked

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Speaker 1: about it already, but it's been a couple of months,

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Speaker 1: so we'll go back and we'll talk about some of

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Speaker 1: those guys and how they're gonna actually fare in the

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Speaker 1: jersey on the field, and then if we have time,

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Speaker 1: we will get into a little training camp story time.

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Speaker 1: It's funny because my wife asked me earlier. She goes,

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Speaker 1: do you miss it the fact that training camp opened today?

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Speaker 1: And I said, just wait till the end of the

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Speaker 1: podcasts in the business, I'm trying to keep you along

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Speaker 1: with us for the ride. All right, So, fellas, I

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Speaker 1: hope you guys enjoyed your your time away, because we're

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Speaker 1: gonna strap it back down.

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Speaker 2: Let's go.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about some Falcon stuff. So before we

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Speaker 1: get into the nuts and bolts, I want to go

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Speaker 1: training camp in three words, Dave, I'm gonna start with you,

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Speaker 1: if you could summarize what training camp is this year,

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Speaker 1: maybe your time, maybe training camp is a whole thirty

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Speaker 1: thousand foot in three words. Do you have it for me?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: I was gonna go pain in and then I didn't.

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Speaker 3: There No, they just pain in. Okay, I'm gonna go.

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with the mentality I had to come

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Speaker 3: to camp with until my like my third year in

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Speaker 3: the league.

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Speaker 4: Don't go home that's true.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, for the average fan, you don't really understand how

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Speaker 1: this works. Like there's a few guys that know they're

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Speaker 1: gonna be on the roster, and there's quite a few

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Speaker 1: other guys that are literally fighting for a job and

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Speaker 1: they have the mentality Like Art said that, my job

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Speaker 1: is to not get sent home during this training camp.

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Speaker 2: I like that one. Art's very creative.

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Speaker 1: DJ, what do you got?

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Speaker 5: That was a good one because that's something I thought

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Speaker 5: about all the time. Don't be the one that goes home.

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Speaker 5: I think for me, when I think about training camp,

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Speaker 5: the thing that comes to.

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Speaker 2: Mind from me would be a little bit of fear.

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Speaker 5: I was a seventh round guy, so obviously I'm like, Okay,

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Speaker 5: I got like three weeks and if I don't plague enough.

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Speaker 2: Don't go home.

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Speaker 5: I'm gonna be a nervous what am I gonna do next?

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Speaker 2: So it was a little bit of fear to start

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Speaker 2: training camp.

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Speaker 5: But then once you got into it, you kind of

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Speaker 5: got over there, figu because you gotta play, you got

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Speaker 5: to do all that kind of stuff. But fear definitely was

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Speaker 5: a little bit at the forefront of my brain when

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Speaker 5: I first started camp.

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Speaker 2: How about you?

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Speaker 1: He said, fear.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he did. I don't need I don't need it.

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Speaker 1: So his was like, up to three words, I just

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Speaker 1: need one need.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 1: These guys kind of talked about two things as far

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Speaker 1: as making sure they stayed on the team. Mine has

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Speaker 1: nothing to do with that. Mine is gonna be because

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Speaker 1: six of my eight years in the NFL was with

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Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons, which was in the Southeast, which training

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Speaker 1: camp starts in July and August. And my three words

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Speaker 1: are bring the heat because they're grit.

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Speaker 2: It's different now embrace it.

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Speaker 1: Don't bring it because there's no embracing of it, right,

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Speaker 1: but it's it's throwing the pads on and then going

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Speaker 1: out for two to two and a half again, we'll

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Speaker 1: get to we'll get the story time at the end,

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Speaker 1: because I know to two and a half hours is

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Speaker 1: not necessarily the status quo right now as we stay

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Speaker 1: in the twenty twenty three but full path helmet covering

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Speaker 1: up the head inns right now. So you know, like

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Speaker 1: I was sweating just walking over here from the parking

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Speaker 1: lot and I don't have any gear on. We're not

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Speaker 1: running around or anything. So there's training camp in three words.

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Speaker 1: So now that we are in training camp DJ, let's

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Speaker 1: talk about some of the position battles. We talked about

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Speaker 1: it back during our free agency show back during the

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Speaker 1: draft recap. A lot of new faces coming into the building,

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Speaker 1: which is going to create competition. Arthur Smith said that

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Speaker 1: in his press conference today, is that competition brings out

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Speaker 1: the best in athletes. Are what is a position battle

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Speaker 1: that you're excited to see play out on the field.

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Speaker 5: Obviously you're bringing in a guy like Ryan Nielsen on

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Speaker 5: the defense side of ball. And I think the thing

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Speaker 5: that really sticks out to me and me and Arch

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Speaker 5: are tungming before we came on the position.

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Speaker 2: For me is the nickel spot.

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Speaker 5: Wow, interesting, you got aj Terrell, You brought in Jeff Akuda,

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Speaker 5: one of those free agents. So you gotta feel good

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Speaker 5: about one and two, right, you feel good about one

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Speaker 5: and two. But in this league, we know there's always nickel,

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Speaker 5: there's dying majority of the time. Who's gonna be those guys?

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Speaker 5: And they have a bunch of guys. There's four or

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Speaker 5: five guys that we can name right now that are

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Speaker 5: vying for that spot. And it's gonna be interesting to

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Speaker 5: see how that plays out. I plays out in special team,

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Speaker 5: I plays out in return games. I mean, there's gonna

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Speaker 5: be so many ways to figure out. Okay, is that

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Speaker 5: your guy? Because we know in this league you're gonna

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Speaker 5: play a lot of three full wide receivers. You can

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Speaker 5: see it in practice. You need three four good defensive backs,

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Speaker 5: especially in this league. So that nickel spot's gonna be

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Speaker 5: fun to watch this preseason.

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Speaker 3: N we'st cool about it too, guys. Is the fact

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Speaker 3: that they've gotten a lot of different body types. Uh huh.

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Speaker 4: You look at Trey Flowers, he's six to three.

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Speaker 3: You know, You've got You've got Hughes, who's like right

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Speaker 3: at six feet tall. Then you've got d Alford who's

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Speaker 3: like five ten, five eleven. So now, all of a sudden,

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Speaker 3: your ability to mix and match because the falcon depth

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Speaker 3: and the secondary far exceeds what they've ever what they've

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Speaker 3: had since Arthur Smith's been here, And I would argue

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Speaker 3: this might be the deepest from a talent standpoint. Now

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Speaker 3: they got to go play that we've seen in a

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Speaker 3: long time here on the defense. Heve side of the

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Speaker 3: ball in the back end. So that's what's cool. As

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Speaker 3: far as the nickel could.

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Speaker 4: Change, Yeah, I mean, you got Hughes out there.

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Speaker 3: Maybe he's starting at corner and then all of a sudden, Hey,

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Speaker 3: their third wide receiver is looks like Kyle Pitts right now,

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Speaker 3: all of a sudden, Trey Flowers is the guy that's

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Speaker 3: in there playing the position, right. So I think that's

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Speaker 3: the thing I'm excited about about the position group that

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Speaker 3: Shock's talking about, is, Hey, we got a lot of

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Speaker 3: versatility back correct.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean I was thinking the same thing as I

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Speaker 1: was looking through the roster, because obviously Jesse Bates comes in,

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Speaker 1: He's going to be one of the starters, right, So

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Speaker 1: a couple of guys that were here last year probably

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Speaker 1: not going to be in the starting lineup. But I thought, well,

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Speaker 1: maybe one of those guys ends up playing more nickel

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Speaker 1: than he does true safety position for the reasons that

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Speaker 1: you talked about. Maybe they want to get a six

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Speaker 1: foot one frame in there that's got longer arms, that

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Speaker 1: can cover up a little bit more space. So plenty

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Speaker 1: of options there. But I like that one. Dave, did

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Speaker 1: you have a different position group that you're excited to

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Speaker 1: look at?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that the one that sticks out to me.

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna stay on the offensive side of the football, Obviously,

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Speaker 3: we know Matt Verseron has been drafted to come in

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Speaker 3: here and play. He's a rookie, Okay, is he going

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Speaker 3: to come in and start at left guard? I mean

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Speaker 3: Matt Hennessy feels like maybe he should be the left guard.

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Speaker 3: How does that work with Drew Dolman at center? Because

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Speaker 3: we know Hennessy played what seventeen games at twenty one

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Speaker 3: at center, So you've got a little bit of an

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Speaker 3: interesting scenario there. Does Jared does Mayfield get back in

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Speaker 3: the mix? You know he was out all of last year,

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Speaker 3: he played left guard what seventeen games back in and

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Speaker 3: twenty one, So it looks like to me, you've got

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Speaker 3: some really good competition in there.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 3: It looks like Bergeron is the earmark guy for that spot.

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Speaker 3: But I'm sure Hennessy is saying, ah, you know, I'm

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Speaker 3: the incumbent here, and Mayfield say, wait a minute, I

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Speaker 3: was the incumbent before you were the incumbenty.

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Speaker 2: So I think there's some.

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Speaker 3: Pretty cool, uh competition in there, and there are some

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Speaker 3: other guys you can factor in as to how that

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Speaker 3: factors in that left guard position.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Dave yours kind of leads me to mine

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Speaker 1: but we're on the same wavelength. Arthur Smith said at

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Speaker 1: the end of last season, said throughout the offseason, whether

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Speaker 1: it was drafting, free agency, and then he just said

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Speaker 1: it again this morning in this press conference that they

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Speaker 1: need to be more physical and play smart on the

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Speaker 1: lines of scrimmage. Right, so you're talking about all that competition.

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Speaker 1: He actually highlighted how we've got to be better when

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Speaker 1: it comes to the red zone. We got to punch

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Speaker 1: the ball into the end zone. We get those opportunities

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Speaker 1: instead of turning it over. All that's efficiency and it

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Speaker 1: starts up front. I'm going to go the other side.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to say the defensive line and not just

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Speaker 1: the guys that might have their hands in the dirt.

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Speaker 1: This extends to the outside linebackers. Think about the players

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Speaker 1: that they brought in and that who is going to

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Speaker 1: take these spots because at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: they're limited on numbers, right, But you bring in a

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Speaker 1: Lorenzo Carter, you got a bud Dupre, you have Ebakadi,

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Speaker 1: you have Malone. You have so many guys out on

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Speaker 1: the edge. But then they bring it to Zach Harrison

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Speaker 1: that he's got the ability to rush the passer probably

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Speaker 1: from more of an interior site position to line up,

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Speaker 1: if you will. And then obviously the guys that they

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Speaker 1: brought in the anyamanas the Kalais Campbell's he's obviously going

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Speaker 1: to start on the non football but he'll be back TQ.

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Speaker 2: Graham.

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Speaker 1: So think about the guys that have actually made plays,

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Speaker 1: the guys that are coming in that have been good

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Speaker 1: players at other places. But yet at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day, you only have so many positions, you can

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Speaker 1: only carry so many guys. The competition there will be

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Speaker 1: fierce because, like you said, Dave, those guys don't want

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Speaker 1: to go home right and you don't really want to

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Speaker 1: be on a practice squad like you'll take it if

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Speaker 1: it's there that you want to be an active roster

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Speaker 1: because that's where all that's where the money comes from,

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Speaker 1: that's where the career longevity comes from. But there's gonna

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Speaker 1: be some guys that are gonna be an outside looking

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Speaker 1: in just because of a sheer number standpoint. So some

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Speaker 1: really good position battles going on. We talked about both

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Speaker 1: sides of the ball. We talked about Arthur Smith. He

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Speaker 1: addressed the media this morning, another year with the Atlanta Falcons, Dave,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna come right back to you. What do you

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Speaker 1: think is from what you've heard from him. You've got

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Speaker 1: a chance to talk to him more than probably anybody

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Speaker 1: in the media does. What do you think is the

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Speaker 1: next step in his evolution as a coach and for

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Speaker 1: this team that he has in front of him in

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Speaker 1: twenty two.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think some of it has to do with

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Speaker 3: what's available to you, right and so when you begin

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Speaker 3: to look at the array of people that he can

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Speaker 3: put on the field. You just talked about defensive linemen

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Speaker 3: and linebackers and the different things that Ryan Nielson's gonna

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Speaker 3: be able to do. That's what Arthur Smith's going to

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Speaker 3: be able to do on the offensive side of the football. Guys,

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Speaker 3: when you start looking at you could essentially have three

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Speaker 3: tight ends on the field, or two tight ends and

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Speaker 3: three running.

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Speaker 2: Backs on the field.

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Speaker 4: You could say shift, you could be lined up in

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Speaker 4: the wishbone. Gerry switzerby be loving.

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Speaker 3: Line up in the wishbone with b John Robinson, Tyler

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Speaker 3: Algier and Cordella Patterson the backfield in the bone, and

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Speaker 3: then all of a sudden, say shift and empty. You

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Speaker 3: could go to empty and all of them are accomplished receivers.

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Speaker 4: I mean, it's unbelievable.

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Speaker 3: You got the two tight ends and Kyle Pitch and

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Speaker 3: Johnny Smith.

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Speaker 4: Unbelievable the versatility.

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Speaker 3: So now if I'm Arthur Smith, my mentality is, Okay,

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Speaker 3: I've got to almost do like Joe Gibbs used to

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Speaker 3: do back in the day. Okay, I got Art and Bunk.

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Speaker 3: I got Ricky Sanders, I got Gary Clark, I got

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Speaker 3: Kelvin Bryant. I can weave different things to get each

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Speaker 3: guy the ball and make it all look the same,

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Speaker 3: and all of a sudden, now Bijon's got it.

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Speaker 2: Oh wait a.

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Speaker 3: Minute, they're concentrated on Bijon. Here comes Kyle. I mean

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Speaker 3: to me, it allows him to probably be that guy

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Speaker 3: that had a team that was fourth in the league

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Speaker 3: in red zone offense when he was in Tennessee directing

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Speaker 3: that offense because of the weapons he's got around. Oh,

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Speaker 3: by the way, John new Smith was part of that group.

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Speaker 3: So to me, I think it loosens the reins a

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Speaker 3: little bit or takes the handcuffs off him and now

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Speaker 3: he can go spin some magic.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And you're right, Dave, because let's be honest, like

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Speaker 1: he's probably been handcuffed a little bit from a personnel

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Speaker 1: standpoint since his time here in Atlanta, they've had to

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Speaker 1: be smart. We've talked about that through the offseason and

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Speaker 1: DJ the most equipped that this organization has been with

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Speaker 1: playmakers both sides of the ball. But I want to

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Speaker 1: go see the offensive side. And it's interesting because we

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Speaker 1: might be what eight ten, twelve minutes through this podcast,

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Speaker 1: and we have not mentioned a quarterback one time. So

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Speaker 1: we have quarterbacks here, we have not talked about Desmond River. DJ.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna try not to lead you into what you

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Speaker 1: were going to talk about, but we've got a lot

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Speaker 1: of options weapons on the offensive side of the ball,

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Speaker 1: where a quarterback that's got four starts under his belt,

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Speaker 1: they're really truly hoping he takes the next step in

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Speaker 1: his development.

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Speaker 5: I had a chance to talk to Dez today and

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Speaker 5: one of the things that I asked him about was

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Speaker 5: that simple thing was, dude, you've got toys around you,

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Speaker 5: got some dudes around you. As soon as I said that,

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Speaker 5: he sat back and he smiled. And that tells you

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Speaker 5: everything you need to know, is he understands what's around him.

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Speaker 5: He understands that his role can change a little bit,

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Speaker 5: but you got to think about it from this mindset.

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Speaker 5: I've been one of those guys that when I got

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Speaker 5: to the Falcons, or when I was even at Georgia,

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Speaker 5: you were one playaway. And that's where Desmond Riddle was

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Speaker 5: last year before he got his four starts. He was

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Speaker 5: one playaway. So the mindset was a little bit different

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Speaker 5: going into camp and then going into the season. He

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Speaker 5: comes into this season now not one away. Now he

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Speaker 5: is the guy, and now your mindset is a little

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Speaker 5: bit different. He's in an offseason to kind of sit

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Speaker 5: in that and understand what's going on around and how

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Speaker 5: he can get better. And one thing he talked about

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Speaker 5: from day one today was I know I don't have

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Speaker 5: to do everything. I got guys around me that I

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Speaker 5: could just distribute the football too and allow those guys

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Speaker 5: to be who they are.

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Speaker 2: And I thought, man, this is great.

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Speaker 5: And day one he realizes I got so many weapons

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Speaker 5: around you for what you guys just talked about from

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Speaker 5: the different personnels the guys you talked about, and aren't

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Speaker 5: you named all those guys And we didn't mention one

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Speaker 5: wide receiver, did not even mention break Yeah, didn't mention Mac,

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Speaker 5: didn't mentioned Scotty didn't mention none of those guys yet

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Speaker 5: to add to that. So you talk about the culmination

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Speaker 5: of having all these guys around you, and then you

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Speaker 5: have a guy in the middle who understands it. The

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Speaker 5: demeanor that Daz has already, you can tell he is

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Speaker 5: far longer in his mindset than just a guy coming

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Speaker 5: into his second year. And I think that's what gave

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Speaker 5: Arthur Smith in this organization. Then just say, all right, look,

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Speaker 5: there are a lot of things out there this offseason.

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Speaker 5: A lot of people talked about where the Foulgers could

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Speaker 5: go at quarterback. We know exactly who we want. Number

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Speaker 5: nine is our guy, and I think that confidence is

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Speaker 5: gonna bowl well for him going into the season. We

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Speaker 5: talked about before eight, it's got to play tons of

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Speaker 5: ball in college. Got four games on his belt last year,

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Speaker 5: which was tremendous to have that, you know, coming into

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Speaker 5: this season, and now you got even more toys added

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Speaker 5: to the array of guys he has. It's going to

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Speaker 5: be fun to see the evolution of Desmond Ridder in

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Speaker 5: this offense with what Arthur Smith is going to do.

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Speaker 5: And the last part I say about this is when

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Speaker 5: I asked him about what's it like playing for Arther Smith?

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Speaker 5: And you talked about the array of things that he

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Speaker 5: can do within his offense is what he talked about.

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Speaker 5: He said, I'd never been around a guy who gained

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Speaker 5: plans the way he does and takes into account every

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Speaker 5: single little detail. And that allows me as the quarterback

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Speaker 5: to understand what everybody around me wants to do. Because

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Speaker 5: he wants he makes sure everybody knows what's going on,

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Speaker 5: so he already understands mentally where he needs to be

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Speaker 5: for this offense. And I think it's so cool. Already

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Speaker 5: from day one, he knows I got dudes around me.

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Speaker 5: All I gotta do is do my job and allow

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Speaker 5: them to be them.

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Speaker 1: Guys, I don't know about you, and it's one of

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Speaker 1: the things that we can't control. It is one of

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Speaker 1: the uncontrollables in football. Is I hope this team experiences.

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Speaker 2: Health this year.

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Speaker 1: I hope that they're able to all these pieces that

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Speaker 1: they brought in, these difference makers. I hope we get

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Speaker 1: a chance to see them all on the field, because

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Speaker 1: you guys have all been around, have you guys been

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Speaker 1: around the NFL long enough?

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Speaker 2: Two?

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Speaker 1: Three, four guys that are really important to a franchise

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Speaker 1: end up going down and sometimes things spiral out of control.

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Speaker 1: But as we sit here and weekly we're gonna be

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Speaker 1: in these Ticketmaster studios talking about the Atlanta Falcons, I

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Speaker 1: just hope that we'll get a chance to see all

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Speaker 1: of these guys go out and do what they were

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Speaker 1: brought in here to do, no doubt, because you're right,

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Speaker 1: like Desbond, Ritter doesn't have to do everything. He's got

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Speaker 1: running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, rebuilt offensive line, guys

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Speaker 1: that have gotten paid, guys that got smiles on their face,

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Speaker 1: guys that are happy to go out and work. And

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Speaker 1: he's got a defense that's retooled that's hopefully going to

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Speaker 1: get some three and outs to get them back on

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Speaker 1: the field. All of this is stuff that you want

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Speaker 1: as a player when you're in the National Football League.

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Speaker 1: Now we're got to just try and keep them all

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Speaker 1: on the field. Again, It's nothing that any of us

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Speaker 1: or any of them can do.

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Speaker 2: Exactly.

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Speaker 1: It's luck. It's it's sometimes you got really good luck

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Speaker 1: and sometimes you don't have such good luck. Let's so

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Speaker 1: we talked about it a lot with the personnel, but

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Speaker 1: let's just kind of recap some of the biggest wins

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Speaker 1: that you guys have seen this offseason. Dave, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: come to you. Maybe it's a positional group, maybe it's

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Speaker 1: something completely different. But where do you feel like this

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Speaker 1: organization is going to be able to take the next

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Speaker 1: step because of what they did in the offseason.

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Speaker 3: Well, I'd like to think that it's the defensive front.

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Speaker 3: But the thing that jumps immediately out to me is

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Speaker 3: how much deeper there on the secondary. I mean, Shock

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Speaker 3: talked about it. I mean, you got three former number

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Speaker 3: ones back there. You add Jesse Bates in free agency,

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Speaker 3: So now all of a sudden, Jalen Hawkins becomes a

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Speaker 3: rover guy that can can switch around with Richie Grant

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Speaker 3: and potentially Baits starting at safety. And then the array

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Speaker 3: of players Flowers offered Hughes, all the different guys that

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Speaker 3: can mix and match. And if you get remember I

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Speaker 3: think it was a Cincinnati game last year. We were

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Speaker 3: playing with guys we didn't even know who they were.

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Speaker 3: I'm looking them up and trying to find them on Wikipedia.

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Speaker 2: What's this guy's name? You know?

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Speaker 3: They called them the game because oh yeah, wait a minute,

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Speaker 3: he got like four games over here, he had three.

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Speaker 3: That's not the case here now. Now the depth of

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Speaker 3: the football team, and not just in the secondary.

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Speaker 4: We talked about.

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Speaker 3: You talked about d line, I talked about the offensive line.

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Speaker 3: There's a number of guys that are The depth is

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Speaker 3: so much better. So I would say I'm excited about

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Speaker 3: how this secondary comes together for Ryan Neilsen because he

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Speaker 3: wants to be aggressive. You you heard even his opening

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Speaker 3: press conference. We're gonna get after people. Well, to get

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Speaker 3: after people, you got to lock down people in the

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Speaker 3: back end. And I think it the personnel. For the

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Speaker 3: first time in a long time for me, and I've

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Speaker 3: been calling the games for some twenty years, this is

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Speaker 3: the first time I felt really good about the secondary

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Speaker 3: and what they look like.

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Speaker 1: And Dave, I'll actually piggyback on it because that's my thought.

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Speaker 1: And I'll be quick here because that you always bring

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Speaker 1: in depth, and this time of the year, you're always

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Speaker 1: going to see a big roster. But what happens is

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Speaker 1: if you don't have experienced, talented depth, you end up

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Speaker 1: with a lot of street free agents or rookies, undrafted

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Speaker 1: free agents, and that's your depth. You get your number

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Speaker 1: one and your number two go down, and then you're

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Speaker 1: in the position that you talk about a no disrespect,

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Speaker 1: but the guy that's coming in undrafted. I was undrafted, right,

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Speaker 1: but I was a specialty players along snapper. But then

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Speaker 1: that guy's the one that you're counting on to move

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Speaker 1: the football down the field. But the difference is experienced

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Speaker 1: talented depth, because you got a quarterback behind Desmon Ritter

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Speaker 1: and Taylor Heinekey that has started played a lot of football,

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Speaker 1: not going to be overwhelmed by the moment. Every position group,

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Speaker 1: running back, wide, receiver, you either got guys that have

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Speaker 1: already done things in the league or their number ones

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Speaker 1: or number twos in the draft at one point, if

438
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,800
Speaker 1: not recently, they were evaluated as some of the best

439
00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,199
Speaker 1: players to come out of college. That's what Atlanta is

440
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,600
Speaker 1: working with. So maybe if they do end up coming

441
00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,960
Speaker 1: into the situation that I talked about injuries, they might

442
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,879
Speaker 1: feel a little bit better this year DJ with that talented,

443
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,879
Speaker 1: experience depth that they have. What did you think about this?

444
00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:26,640
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.

445
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:29,400
Speaker 5: I'm gonna stay on that defensive side of the ball.

446
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,880
Speaker 5: And I think one of the biggest wins this offseason

447
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,879
Speaker 5: was who you replace Dean P's with. And we knew

448
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,080
Speaker 5: the knowledge of what Dean Pea's was about, and you

449
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,639
Speaker 5: bring in Ryan Nielson or just talked about it. We

450
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,040
Speaker 5: talked about the person that goes with it. The one

451
00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,760
Speaker 5: thing that stuck out to me was it was during

452
00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,880
Speaker 5: OTA's maybe a Mini camp and Kaleis Campbell was talking

453
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,600
Speaker 5: about Ryan Nielsen and he mentioned he did something in

454
00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,879
Speaker 5: a drill and Ryan came to woman and said, hey.

455
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,080
Speaker 2: Have you ever thought about doing this?

456
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,600
Speaker 5: And he said, you know what, I've been playing fifteen

457
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,680
Speaker 5: years and nobody really explained it to me that way,

458
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,680
Speaker 5: and I learned something new. And you're talking about a

459
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 5: guy who's been there and done it in Kaleis Campbell,

460
00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,600
Speaker 5: a veteran who we talked about experience, who's been around,

461
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,400
Speaker 5: done it all, seen it all, but he's still learning

462
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,600
Speaker 5: from Ryan Nilson, a guy who's coming there, who's a

463
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,040
Speaker 5: proven past rush guy and something we've been oh please,

464
00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,560
Speaker 5: can we get it for the last year and now

465
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:29,359
Speaker 5: we have the depth there. We have a guy who

466
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,399
Speaker 5: understands it and the passion and the style that he

467
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:33,080
Speaker 5: coaches with.

468
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:34,960
Speaker 2: And everything I've heard about.

469
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 5: Him is details, details, details, from your hands to your

470
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,080
Speaker 5: feet to your the placement of everything, and the players

471
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 5: have responded to him, and you love it are talked about.

472
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:46,080
Speaker 5: You know, you heard it from day one. We're gonna attack.

473
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,560
Speaker 5: That's what you want to hear from a defensive coach.

474
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,199
Speaker 2: We love that. You don't want to be the Hey,

475
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:53,639
Speaker 2: we're going to react to whatever the offer. No no, no,

476
00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:54,080
Speaker 2: no no no.

477
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:56,119
Speaker 5: We're gonna make them react. And that's what you like.

478
00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,720
Speaker 5: And so I think the biggest win will how do

479
00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,000
Speaker 5: you replace a guy like Dean. He's bringing in a

480
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 5: guy like Ryan neils I think was probably a slam

481
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:06,879
Speaker 5: dunk higher and you know, steal them from you know

482
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:07,880
Speaker 5: that that team.

483
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:08,480
Speaker 2: That other team.

484
00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 4: Oh, by the way, we got a couple of their players, Yeah, took.

485
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:12,719
Speaker 2: Some of them to well.

486
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,400
Speaker 3: I I talked to Onya Mada this morning after practice,

487
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:18,760
Speaker 3: and on your mind it echoed what you're talking about.

488
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:21,280
Speaker 3: You said, what are you doing here? I mean, you

489
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,160
Speaker 3: were successful, You're a starter in New Orleans. They're gonna

490
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,280
Speaker 3: pay you and probably bring you back. He goes that

491
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,199
Speaker 3: guy right over there and he pointed at Ryan Neilson.

492
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:29,400
Speaker 3: He says, that's why I'm here in Atlanta.

493
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:30,680
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's pretty cool.

494
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:31,040
Speaker 2: Yeah.

495
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:32,879
Speaker 1: I love the fact that you brought up the coaching

496
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,200
Speaker 1: side of it, because again they had a great coach

497
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 1: and DPS, but you get somebody from a coaching standpoint

498
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,360
Speaker 1: that's a technician and that is hungry, energetic and probably

499
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,560
Speaker 1: can't wait to get on the field and start working

500
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 1: with all these pieces that have been brought into this building.

501
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:48,840
Speaker 1: All right, before we wrap it up, try to have

502
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,400
Speaker 1: a little fun if we haven't had already, to talk

503
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,960
Speaker 1: about some training camp memories. Okay, Now again, I'm not

504
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,080
Speaker 1: gonna sit here and go down you know, glory Road

505
00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:00,080
Speaker 1: as much, but training camp in twenty twenty three it

506
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 1: was a whole lot different than it was. And Dave,

507
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:04,840
Speaker 1: what was your first year at training nineteen eighty four?

508
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:06,920
Speaker 1: My first year was in two thousand. Your first year

509
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: was in two thousand and six. So you're talking about

510
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:14,720
Speaker 1: the evolution of NFL trains for me than it was

511
00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,199
Speaker 1: for these It is for shock and that is for

512
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,240
Speaker 1: these guys. Right now, what kind of memories do you

513
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:23,400
Speaker 1: have from training camp? Not just don't go home, but yeah,

514
00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:23,880
Speaker 1: some fun?

515
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,399
Speaker 3: Well that was That was a big part of it,

516
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,359
Speaker 3: although at one point I wanted to go home seventeen

517
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,440
Speaker 3: straight days in two days in pass.

518
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 2: Yes, so my stomach hurt thinking about it right now.

519
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,159
Speaker 4: It was I forgot you forget what day it was.

520
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,680
Speaker 3: I remember it was just back in the non cell

521
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,359
Speaker 3: phone day, you know, I know, ancient times, so you

522
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 3: had to write letters. I was writing a letter to

523
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,600
Speaker 3: my then girlfriend who's now my wife at Iowa State,

524
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 3: writing to her, and I said, I.

525
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:48,760
Speaker 2: Just want to get out of here.

526
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,280
Speaker 3: It was it was, and I was playing quarterback, and

527
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 3: imagine what a defensive lineman was being. I remember Scott

528
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,879
Speaker 3: Case in year two of training camp, which is in

529
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 3: the same type of scenario, who ended up being in

530
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,399
Speaker 3: my room with Oklahoma player second round draft pick in

531
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 3: eighty four. Scott came into training camp at one ninety

532
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,840
Speaker 3: two or one ninety three. We'd worked out all off

533
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:16,000
Speaker 3: season together. In three days. He was packed in ice

534
00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:18,760
Speaker 3: with ivs and both arms and weighed one sixty seven

535
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,960
Speaker 3: No way, yeah, yeah, he was. And I went in

536
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,200
Speaker 3: there and I look at I walked into a hospital.

537
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,520
Speaker 3: I mean, that's what that's what this can be. It

538
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,520
Speaker 3: was so depleting to you. And you're drinking water. You

539
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,879
Speaker 3: guys know you got water. It's not like they're depriving

540
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,120
Speaker 3: you of water. You're drinking water. But you'd lose ten

541
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 3: pounds in the morning in a morning prior eight pounds

542
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:43,240
Speaker 3: in the morning practice water weight nine to eleven, and

543
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 3: then the brilliance of practice two. Coming back out at

544
00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 3: two thirty the afternoon was unbelieva. You'd lose well, all

545
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:53,960
Speaker 3: you were doing, all you were doing at dinners, I

546
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 3: was trying to drink.

547
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,640
Speaker 4: You couldn't eat anything. It was brutal.

548
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,000
Speaker 3: It was it was really hard, and we were all

549
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,040
Speaker 3: heart We were a hard nose get after you run

550
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,560
Speaker 3: the football team like this team is Gerald Riggs, William Andrews.

551
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,919
Speaker 3: We were pounding people of the run game. It was

552
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,919
Speaker 3: physical and so that was one of the That's one

553
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,280
Speaker 3: of the main things I remember about training camp is

554
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,480
Speaker 3: just trying to stay hydrated and and what the hell

555
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 3: am I doing here?

556
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,000
Speaker 1: I'll go next real quick, just because this is the

557
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 1: evolution of training camps, right. And I have a daughter

558
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,080
Speaker 1: that's that's playing competitive sports now, and she's getting to

559
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: the point to where she gets sore, right, and she's like, well,

560
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: what can I do? I was like, well, you need

561
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,199
Speaker 1: to fill up the bathtub with water and ice and

562
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,399
Speaker 1: you need to sit in it. And she's like, excuse me,

563
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,399
Speaker 1: what No, And I'm like yeah, and she's like, okay,

564
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,119
Speaker 1: well I could probably do that for like two or

565
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 1: three minutes, and I'm.

566
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,560
Speaker 2: Like, nah, that's two or three minutes.

567
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 5: No.

568
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,359
Speaker 1: So what my memory is and what I always tell

569
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,480
Speaker 1: her is and I remember when I come up here,

570
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 1: because when you came up here today, right now you

571
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 1: see ice coolers like lined up outside right.

572
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 4: And their cattle troughs, Yes they are.

573
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,480
Speaker 1: And then and then now yeah, now they're the horse

574
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,080
Speaker 1: troughs or whatever. Before with us it was just the

575
00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,120
Speaker 1: big trash camp, yes, right that minute. So you would

576
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,880
Speaker 1: just get after practice. Literally you don't go into locker room.

577
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 1: You walk back from practice, you drop your helmet in

578
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,199
Speaker 1: your shoulder pads on the ground. There's a bunch of

579
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,560
Speaker 1: student trainers that are helping for training camp, and their

580
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,640
Speaker 1: job is to fill your bucket up with ice. I'm

581
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 1: talking big trash can and all you do you don't

582
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,359
Speaker 1: even take off your football pants. You just step over

583
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,439
Speaker 1: into the ice. And that fifteen to twenty minutes was

584
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,440
Speaker 1: the most glorious time.

585
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,200
Speaker 3: Well, not the first two minutes, the first first.

586
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 4: That the develop before blissful.

587
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,760
Speaker 1: So yeah, trying to leave out the details that they

588
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:44,200
Speaker 1: didn't make it.

589
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,960
Speaker 2: Did even even have the thing for your toe? Did

590
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 2: you put the things on your toes?

591
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:51,359
Speaker 4: They had like what it looked like a wet suit

592
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:56,200
Speaker 4: you can put on you. You never lived that down.

593
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,879
Speaker 1: What I will say is that that stuff is a

594
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,760
Speaker 1: necessity for training camp. If you want to get your

595
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,119
Speaker 1: legs back underneath you, you have to live in the ice,

596
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 1: bath tub, trough, trash band, whichever one it ends up being.

597
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 4: They well't like they just swed new legs. Oh my god,

598
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:15,720
Speaker 4: and like you had.

599
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,000
Speaker 1: I try to tell the people in this generation, like,

600
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 1: if you want to get your legs.

601
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,560
Speaker 2: Back, this is how you do it.

602
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 1: It's hard.

603
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,440
Speaker 5: This is how I tell my son that now. And

604
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,640
Speaker 5: I tell him it's gonna help you. You're gonna feel better.

605
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 5: And he he said, no, I'm good, I'm fine. I

606
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:30,440
Speaker 5: don't even hurt you anymore. I said, bro, you gotta

607
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,880
Speaker 5: do it. But uh, I got to My first one

608
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,359
Speaker 5: is in two thousand and six. I had never seen

609
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:43,280
Speaker 5: the magnitude of a grown man crying over seeing somebody else,

610
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 5: and this time it was seeing Michael Vick. I'm running

611
00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:50,160
Speaker 5: out to practice and I'm we're running over to the hill. Yes,

612
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 5: and I'm watching grown men look at him like.

613
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,080
Speaker 2: They just start crying, just start crying. Unbelievable.

614
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,879
Speaker 5: Why the second part of it was an embarrassing moment

615
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:03,800
Speaker 5: for me. We get into our we get into our

616
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:05,359
Speaker 5: offensive mean room. It might have been a team and

617
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:06,880
Speaker 5: I might have been. I think it was an offensive

618
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,159
Speaker 5: mean room. And I'm just sitting there, you know, I'm

619
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,159
Speaker 5: a you know, a rookie sitting there just relaxing. And

620
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 5: all of a sudden, Greg Napp recipes puts up. I

621
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 5: had a rooms to go like deal, and there was

622
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:22,800
Speaker 5: this deal of me sitting on like these bump beds.

623
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,520
Speaker 5: I got my feet kicked up. And Greg Nap says, yeah,

624
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 5: so we got one of our rookies who hasn't done

625
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 5: anything yet, but look at this, and he puts it

626
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,159
Speaker 5: up on the entire screen for everybody looking. And I

627
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 5: see it and I instantly like want to crawl in

628
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 5: my shirt. I'm so embarrassed. I'm like, I didn't even

629
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:43,919
Speaker 5: know they knew about it, and for some reason they

630
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 5: found in a paper and I got crushed for like

631
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,000
Speaker 5: a week after that. You ain't doing that, rookie, You

632
00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 5: got your own rooms like veterans like I ain't even

633
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:51,960
Speaker 5: got that you.

634
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 2: Embarrassed.

635
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,840
Speaker 4: Embarrassed yeah, yeah, before and.

636
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: In all honesty, we could probably sit up a full podcast,

637
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 1: if not two or three. Yeah, and then and then

638
00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:14,360
Speaker 1: we might need like the censored version version, which you're

639
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 1: probably not gonna get that. All right, anyway, hopefully you're

640
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 1: excited about training camp starting the season is upon us.

641
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,000
Speaker 1: We'll be playing a couple of preseason games here pretty soon,

642
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,639
Speaker 1: and hopefully you'll be seeing a whole lot more of

643
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,119
Speaker 1: us here's talking the Atlanta Falcons. Thanks so much for

644
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,480
Speaker 1: joining us here on the Falcons Audible presented by AT

645
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 1: and T. Remember like subscribe, review, Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and

646
00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons dot com or however you get your podcast content.

647
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:41,600
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us, and we'll be back

648
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:43,440
Speaker 1: very soon with a whole lot more.

649
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 2: Thanks fellas. Good to see you boys,