 Ahead on Early Birds, the pre-season comes to a close today at the Benz. We'll get you ready plus we'll get you caught up on the joint practices earlier this week between the Falcons and Jaguars. Plus, this Falcons receiver has a connection to a legendary quarterback and Shaq gives his prediction on if the dogs are going back to back. That and more ahead on Early Birds. I'm a couple of your favorite Joe and let's talk Falcons football on Early Birds, presented by Mercedes Benz. Well, good morning and welcome into Early Birds. He's DJ, I'm Justin and we are here to get you ready for the pre-season finale in six hours right here on Fox 5. Let's not waste any time. Get things started with the opening drive. Falcons and Jaguars this afternoon at the Benz, not the first time Shaq that these two teams face off. Two joint practices this week and the Falcons really going all in on these this year. Yeah, when you cut one of those pre-season games out, it's time to get a little bit more action, especially going against a whole other team. It's like playing another game. So these coaches are able to see and evaluate their players a little bit more when you face different competition than what you're just going against every single day with your own teammates. Yeah, you said competition a couple of good days of exactly that in Flowery Branch, including our old friend from Cartersville. It seems so close. You hop on the plane, it's like a 45-minute flight up here. So it's close, but just haven't been back in a while, so it feels good. I think we're good. I think we're just continuing to grow, continuing to get better at the defense. We've got guys that can destroy the middle of the pocket and guys coming off the edge like myself in high day and then our linebackers. So we're just all trying to keep getting better. Keep putting our best foot forward and working hard. Week one's coming, but I think we'll be ready for it. As we continue on the opening drive, we shall see how much the starters play today, but it's a lot on the line for those guys on the roster. Mr. Bubble, like this guy, D. Alford or D. Lyman-Derek, Tangelo Shock, who are you? What are we watching? Yeah, this is an interesting point because this is the last time these players get a chance to actually show the coaches what they're about. We had all this training camp off season. Now it comes down to today, one last opportunity to put your best foot forward and say why you deserve to be on this team. Now we spoke to some players who are hoping to make this opportunity count. My phone been going crazy. I've been getting a lot of love, a lot of support. I've got a great fan base, a lot of people reaching out to me. Obviously I'm not able to reach out back to everyone, but I do appreciate the support. I know that you understand that I've got to stay focused and stay locked in and just continue to get better and make the players that come my way. And D. Alford is making plays, that's for sure. As we wrap up the opening drive, so you've got the roster decisions, but also decisions in terms of starting spots. Center and running back kind of come to mind. DJ, what are your thoughts on these two spots? Yeah, those are two important spots, especially that center spot, because that's where everything begins. And almost ends if you don't have that spot solidified. We've had it for a long time with, you know, Tom McClure did it for years back. Alex Mack, now you're looking for the next guy to do it. I think running back by committee will absolutely get it done, but that center spot I think is probably the most important spot on this team. Something to watch today and as we head into the regular season, well, welcome into Early Birds alongside DJ Shockley. I'm Justin Felder and another player to watch. We'll see if he gets on the field today. Deion Jones came off the pup list on Wednesday. Not sure if he's going to play today, but he's been a starter for so long. Now he's going to have to earn that back. Yeah, I hope so. I mean, I hope he does a good job of he's been in shape. He had time to kind of get that shoulder together. No, he had a little cleanup on that issue, but this is the time where I know Falcons friends love to see Deion Jones. It meant some talk about trade and all that kind of stuff. He's practicing, so you're hoping that he's ready to go. He said he didn't pay attention to any of that. Come on. Come on. Let's see. All right, Chuck, we know the Falcons are truly birds. You cannot change. Okay. Leonard Skinner. They're from Jacksonville. I like that. I like that. That's a good one. We'll see you in the film room in just a few. But first, among the new faces in the Falcons, Receiver Room is a guy who's still relatively new to playing Receiver. Kaderrill Hodge is going into his fifth NFL season, but he played quarterback in high school and to start his college career. He first went to Alcorn State in Mississippi before transferring, but we started our one-on-one interview this week talking about one of Alcorn's most famous alums. For a lot of football fans, they think Alcorn State quarterback. They think Steve McNair, right? Was he a guy you watched? Yeah, that's actually my cousin. Really? Yeah, that was a reason I tried to go to Alcorn to try to follow him, follow his footsteps, but it didn't work out like that. So he grew up, my knowledge is like maybe 20 minutes from Delos. Really? So, yeah, a small city. I actually played like a little league in high school with his son. Oh, really? Oh, Steve and McNair. That's crazy. What was that like having somebody in your family as an inspiration to watch him in college, obviously, and then what he did in the film? Oh, yeah. It was either him watching him growing up playing a quarterback. It was either watching Steve or Mike Vic. So he meant a lot to me as far as the position. It was either try to be like him or do something he did at the position. Did he get a chance to meet Mike when he was out here a couple weeks ago? Yeah, I was, I came out, I was going to start screwing. That was my first time. I'm like, oh, I was trying to keep it together, but that's like Mike Vic, and he like really meant a lot to me growing up. So I low key wish I could have got an autograph, but I'm pretty sure I'll see him again. There's a lot of guys in your room, including yourself, who are undrafted guys who had, you know, climbed that mountain, right? You, OZ, Damir, Bernie, now we're talking all about. What is it about that experience for you and maybe for these other guys that have motivated you, that have helped you grow as players? The whole group, like you said, well, we're undrafted. So the whole group has that chip on our shoulder, and we come out every day to prove that, you know, nothing is given to us that we know that. We got to work for it every day. We got to put something on film every day. We got to come out and be the best. Flip side of the thing with undrafted, you're hanging out with the rookie in Drake. What's he been like to work with? What have you seen out here on the field? We've only seen him a tiny bit in games. He's not even going to gas him up, but he's going to be a stuff real for a long time in the league. Drake is a good guy. He wants to learn good sides, good hands, man. He's going to be a good player for sure. From Mississippi, so you got some Cowboys and Saints fans in the family. So what's happening? Are you getting some converts or what's going on? A couple of converts. My mom, the media family, my brother, which he's a Patriot fan, but when I'm playing, he's a Falcon. So outside family, it's kind of hard getting them to convert from the Saints or the Cowboys, but as the season goes on, I'm pretty sure they'll come over. It's time to get some game intel from shock. You're invited into the film room. So cut the lights and let's get started. You're right. Let's get started. All off season, we've talked about how this defense and DMPs is going to make it look different. They're going to put 100% in on how they get to the quarterback. And obviously pressure is a big thing. Get to the quarterback. Let's talk about this play from a Jets game here. Now look at the, you got a little agap pressure. You got both linebackers lined up in the agap and they're going to blitz. But the one guy that you, you can't tell if he's going to blitz or not. My man, Jalen Hawkins up here. He got his head looking right at the middle of this receiver. So he's playing it off. He disguised it really well. Now the snap of the football, you're going to see these two guys blitz. Watch them come. And then now the back has to pick up Rashawn Evans. So now you see Jalen Hawkins coming off the edge full speed. And it's going to force this offense to say, okay, who am I going to block? And as the play continues, he does a good job of getting through. And now you see the pressure from Rashawn Evans here. Nice job there. You got to drop coverage. All guys on the back end are looking at the quarterback. That's very important. Now Hawkins going to get through. He's going to get the pressure on him. You got a good sight lines by your defensive line here too. They're rushing. Everybody's in their lane, which is important as well on the rush. As the play continues, you're going to see now watch to coordinate him, retrace his steps and come back down and make this play. Remember, this is third and four. This is a critical down pressure by Dean Pease. Nice job by him coming. And you can see as the end of this play here, you finish it off. You only get a one or two yard game, punt the football. And now you got a chance to give it back to your office. This defense is going to be fun to watch. And they're going to put a lot of pressure on quarterbacks. Justin. All right. Thanks, Shaq. We'll see what the defense does today against the Jags. We're one week from the start of the college football season for our state teams. That means it's time to write those predictions in pen. Plus, well, it's gotten harder and harder. Oh, times are tough to be a defensive back. Just ask Isaiah Oliver. He takes us through how to get around past interference calls. That's next and going deep. Hey Falcons fans, score a touchdown with low tire prices and Mavis tires and brakes. The official tire retailer of the Atlanta Falcons. Visit MavisTire.com to find a store near you. The Birds is presented by Mercedes-Benz, the best or not. And brought to you by Georgia Lotter. Today could be the day. By Truist, committed to a better future. And by Home Depot, how doers get more done? I'm going to switch gears and talk a little college ball. Bought to you by Truist. BNC and SunTrust are now Truist. Here again is Fox 5's Justin Felder. All right, back here on Early Birds College football season. It is officially here. Our state teams, for the most part, they're getting started next week. But games do start today, including Nebraska Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland. This afternoon, it's here on Fox 5, leading right into our Falcons Jaguars pre-game show. And, Shaq, we couldn't talk producer Myles into floating us for a trip to Dublin to do Early Birds on the road. That might have been cool. I would have enjoyed that. I was going to try and double Ireland voice, but I'm not going to try it because it's going to be too terrible. I'm not going to embarrass myself like that. We'll see if we can go overseas another time. For now, let's get some predictions on tape so we can bring these back in just a few months. Shaq, let's start with your conference champions, SEC and ACC. I got a hint who the SEC is. Yeah, I mean, Georgia's dominant. They've been dominant for the last few years, obviously. Especially in the East. It's going to be a little bit tougher. Alabama's going to be really good. A lot of people, it's going to be a toss up between Georgia and Alabama. It's going to be tough. I think I'm going with the dogs on the ACC side. I think Clemson bounces back. I think DJ Ouyangale, how do I do that? They did pretty well in that maybe. I think he bounces back and plays well, and Clemson regains what they lost last year. Clemson, by the way, opening up against Georgia Tech Labor Day Night at the Benz. Georgia and Clemson in the picks. Any surprise teams that could sneak up and challenge for a conference title? I think so. I mean, I think in the West floor, the SEC could be an LSU, could be a Texas hand-in. Maybe they get it going in a first year there for an LSU. Who knows? ACC is going to be interesting. I mean, Pitt's always been pretty good. We'll see what happens on that side. You're getting the sneak peek in the video, DJ. Let's get your national championship matchup. We got the conference titles. Yeah, we talked about it. I think Ohio State's going to be super strong. Ohio State and Georgia in that big-time ball game. You got a lot of great athletes in there. CJ Stroud, I think, is going to be outstanding. He got a good chance. Possibly one of the... I think we'll see, but this is going to be a magnificent game. But this is going to be fun to watch, and those two teams do make it and then they'll play in each other in that game. You know Kirby loves talk like this. He's not getting caught up in the hype. I don't worry about it because, you know, we don't have a reason to be complacent. I mean, I've been on national championship teams that won it all that I was concerned about complacency. Because there's a lot of back. We don't really have that problem. I worry about complacency for a guy that started and played for two years. But that was regardless of the record. You worry about a guy being comfortable that has started multiple years in Kenny Gross. Because I know the guys who haven't played are hungry. All right, so you mentioned Georgia and Ohio State there. You alluded to it a moment ago. A lot of people talking about Bryce Young in terms of the Heisman, but your Heisman pick comes from the Big 10. Yeah, man. CJ Stroud, man. Obviously he had big numbers last year. He put up some outstanding monster numbers. Almost won it last year, but Bryce Young was magnificent. But he's got two big-time receivers coming back. You've got Maura Harrison Jr. We know how good his dad was. We've got Jackson Smith, who was really good as well. He's going to continue to throw it all over the yard. They're going to have a chance to put up monster numbers. They're going to be on big-time TV every single week. He's going to get the numbers. He's going to get the pump as well. We'll see it. Hey, maybe set some better. Make a little noise. We'll see. Don't sleep on Jameer Gibbs, by the way. Bama, Dalton High School transfer from Georgia Tech. Let's be honest. The NFL game today is a lot more friendly to wide receivers and kind of grab a push from the DB usually results in a pass interference call. As a result, cornerbacks have to make some tough adjustments. Isaiah Oliver explains how to defend a pass without getting called for PI's time for going deep. Well, it's gotten harder and harder every year, probably. But the key thing is is really understanding where your help is. So on the football field, obviously you're not on the field by yourself, right? There's 10 other guys. So the biggest thing for a DB is to understand where your help is, whether that's inside or outside. The coverage and things like that. Because if we just come out here and do one-on-ones with the receivers, they're going to win most of the time. Naturally, right? And that's when you kind of see the most grabs and hand stuff. But on the football field in a real game, just understanding where your help is, understanding your leverage. So if I'm playing outside leverage, I know that I have linebackers inside or a safety hide to help me out. So if a receiver runs a high crossing route and I'm outside leverage, obviously I'm already at a disadvantage. But I know that somebody else is going to be there eventually to help me. So I don't have to grab this guy or pull this guy or do those types of things. But if you don't understand where your help is, if you don't understand where your leverage is, then you get five passes at you. Three of them are going to be PPI's and other two are going to be caught. That's just kind of how the game goes. Just kind of understanding the defense is the biggest thing. Know where your help is. Good stuff from Isaiah Oliver. And coming up, it wasn't a win for the Falcons, but the guys at 92.9 made it sound exciting on the radio for sure. Some of the best calls from the Falcons and Jets ahead on Early Birds. You're watching Early Birds. Presented by Mercedes-Benz. On your official home for Falcons football. Fox 5 at Linn. Welcome back into Early Birds. This season the NFL is launching its diversity in sports medicine pipeline initiative, which will provide medical students at four HBCUs medical schools with a chance to complete a clinical rotation with NFL club medical staff. And it's the focus of this week's Emory Roads to Recovery. Now earlier this month the Falcons announced they're going to be welcoming Morehouse's Paulo Guilloran and Eddie Ganti as part of the program. The NFL hopes to expand the program next year to more people of color and women who aspire to be involved in sports medicine in the future. We're honored, we're excited and yeah we had a lot we were able to weigh in a lot on how we thought the curriculum should be set up how their week should go and they'll spend some time at Flower Branch during practice with the training staff kind of seeing the inner workings of how the team does sports medicine during a practice setting. They're going to come over to the clinical side with us at Emory so they'll kind of see us how we operate in clinic. Maybe come watch me do surgery some some and so they'll have like an observing role both on the healthcare side but also on the team side. Alright cool stuff there more to come on Early Birds the best calls of the game presented by the team at ninety-two nine of the game that's coming up next. It's been presented to you by Mercedes Benz the best or nothing. Falcons fans score a touchdown with low tire prices at Mavis tires and brakes. The official tire retailer of the Atlanta Falcons is at MavisTire.com the finest store near you. It was a rare Monday night pre-season game and the Falcons took things right down to the wire yet again. Let's take a look back at the Jets Falcons matchup with our friends from ninety-two nine of the game and Miles Garrett behind the lens in the Falcons matchup with the Jets. Clutches, fires, pits twenty-five and knocked out of bounds at the New York twenty-seven yard line by Bryce Hall. My goodness. Play fake mariota deep in the pocket Marcus looking left side oh my heavens wide opening caught Butcher inside the fifteen laid the wood out there in the secondary on Jason Pinnock who knocked him out of bounds snapped a mariota looks left gonna throw in on a streak on the back lot of the end zone holes in the touchdown Strebler straight drop now trying to find room puts it up and it is intercepted the secondary Towers got it and brings it back up field to the New York twenty-six yard line where a flag is thrown. Good stuff and we'll see what happens today and it is a huge day you can see it all right here on Fox five join us at two thirty for the Dirty Bird report pregame show Falcons and Jaguars then kicking off from the bends at three o'clock we'll wrap it all up right here with the DBR postgame show it's gonna be around six o'clock leading right into the Braves and Cardinals from St. Louis DJ. Yeah if you're wanting to go to more Falcons game this season just scan the QR code you see here for details the code would also send you to the Falcons season ticket page packages are available now for the exciting new season ahead all right and let's talk about the game coming up today which should be plenty exciting give me another player or two that you're gonna be watching especially close today against the Jaguars I'm going with two guys because these two guys they may be on the bubble Caleb Huntley quadriolison two guys today running back spot we talked about earlier can these guys solidify their spot on this team and be that third or fourth back that maybe the Falcons need coming into this season it's gonna be interesting to see where they land but those two guys have to play a huge role today nothing kind of solidify their spot and we've talked so much about Jared Bernhardt the Alfred are those guys that can really write their names on the roster after big preseason I think offer is good I think he's done a good job but I think Bernhardt that's gonna be a tough spot I think he makes it man I think it's gonna be fun he has one more big game today he's in there after this one the focus turns to cut downs and we'll be right here to wrap it up next week that's all here for us on early birds for our quarterback DJ Shockley I'm Justin Felder thanks for joining us have a good morning and a great weekend