 What's up everybody and welcome to yet another edition of the Falcons final whistle podcast. I'm Scott Bayer alongside my Partner in crime Tori McClaney. Yay, and we're here Signing your books getting ready to go on a little summer vacation KIT put the phone number in the back make sure to sign next to a funny quote by your name interesting Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's what we're gonna do. We can we might not see each other in person for like a long time That is true. We may and it was funny because I was walking into the building today and all of the players and the coaches We're walking out and they're like have a good summer Exactly. Okay. I'll see you when we get back It's time the NFL offseason Which you would think would be from the Super Bowl to the start of training camp We all know that ain't it nope between schedule release and draft and free agency and honestly, we've been working harder Yeah, exactly That's true heading into the offseason program which starts with strength and conditioning in April and carries on through the mandatory minicamp Which just wrapped up the on-field portions of it on? Wednesday Thursday as we're recording this the players and Arthur Smith and the coaching staff. They're all at top golf I believe yes Drives honestly, I'm kind of sad that I didn't catch an invite to that I know I am not good at golf by any means But I would love to just go hang hit hit a few golf balls and see who the best golfer of the team is I feel like it's one of the coaches, but I know we were talking to Desmond Ritter the other day And he said that he wants to get Marcus out there and hit a few rounds So we'll see here's the funny part about that that conversation got brought up in the presser with Marcus Mario to yesterday Really? I wasn't in that yeah, and he is such a I wouldn't say soft-spoken, but he's a calm even keel guy Yeah, he heard about the Ritter challenge And he basically said he would love to play me hers here. He hears Ritter is very good I don't know what handicap numbers mean, but I know that when he said his handicap all the golfers in the crowd wearing the Golf shirts they went ooh, you're pretty good. He's like, yeah, I can get around Okay, so it's Marcus is the best one team. We're gonna go out on that limb I think is I'm willing to say that I'm also willing to say that Kyle Pitts has only been playing since January And I think has a very natural swing and give him a year or two And we might be able to have a pretty good showdown at Chateau Allon or something like that I'm so down for that. Just put me in the golf court like the golf cart. Yeah, like I won't play I'll just watch everybody. I can commentate The it with with the truly in hand live streamed Falcons final whistle from the golf course With all this equipment on the back of the cart to her and Scott Whispering very quietly about what's happening. Oh, I can't do I can't do that. We are you're not good at that? Yeah, okay, but I still think it's an idea on the agenda Maybe we should actually talk about what went on this week. That seems a little crazy I have a tough time remembering what happened yesterday because it may have been borderline Heatstroke blackout situation for someone from California and we always talk about the dry heat and things like that Here's the thing though. That was a true Georgia. Yeah, and I'm from Georgia and it was still Brutal it was just thick with two C's like It was thick you could cut it with a knife. It really did feel that way. I was on the sideline and Casey Hayward who is from Perry, Georgia. So middle Georgia. He knows he did in high school He did two a days where you literally are have full pads on you're going a hundred and ten percent guys are probably passing out left And right even he said this is different. It was a different type of heat It was and Arthur Smith who if you've seen his press conference likes to take gentle jabs and ribs at some members of the media Walked around the field with about 20 minutes left Yeah, it was hot and most everyone because the cameras can't shoot practice at that point Why are the camera guys and camera women standing out there? Of course, they're gonna go back inside but at one point There were only two people standing Outside in the Sun. Yeah, we were having a little powwow underneath Felder yeah, yeah, and we were underneath the tree and Dean peas called us out and I I said I was like I don't have a problem with Like it doesn't hurt my pride to be soft like if y'all want to call me soft by all means It doesn't hurt me at all. And then Arthur Smith said something Mm-hmm, and then the best thing happens. Yeah, it did We were standing there underneath this tree and Arthur is just given Media up and down the road for not being out in the Sun I was looking for partial credit for just being outside. He gave me zero yeah He and someone yelled like it's not for everyone and then one Eric Harris turns around Points at Scott Bear who was underneath the tree and said Scott Get out here. He said we're trying to build a culture here and What did I do so Scott? Gets out from under the tree and he stood in the Sun for the remainder of practice. I did just I mean We are trying to build a culture around here. Hopefully. I don't know how it's it's a culture Respecting where there's shade sometimes. Yeah, no one went to hold them and no one went to fold them Because I was overheated. I wore gray cotton, which is a rookie move Yeah, I thought I was making fun of Scott because his shirt kind of looked like Tata. Oh, yeah It was it was not a good look But they got through two days of mini camp. I'm not gonna use the P word Practice word. Oh, yeah Because Arthur Smith says their workout sessions I think what he's trying to do he's trying to create a semantic division between what you see in training camp and what you're seeing With no pads where they're installing and they're learning plays Yeah, and maybe you know to not chart every single rep that happens out there that but I think general impressions are Over the course of the two days of open mini camp Sessions, yeah, and the OTA's that this is a team that and we talked to several people about this one The chip on your shoulder mentality is real Yeah, and two this group is really working hard at being a cohesive group that likes each other Yeah, I think and if you can do that, we don't know how it'll be tested by adversity yet But that's gonna be an important thing for a team as they try to overperform Expectations this season. Yeah, I think it was great to Jared when we're talking to him the first day And he said something that I found very interesting where he was talking about how he felt like this team maybe more than any team he's played with here in Atlanta was Friends they were friends. They were very very close They all had a similar mindset and I think it does go back to what you're saying about like the the whole chip on your shoulder mentality I think they all are very aware of the outside perspective of the organization at this current point in time And I think it's honestly kind of bringing them together in a way that maybe you don't see a lot at the professional Level because you are Professionals you're coming in to do a job. You're not necessarily coming in to like I don't know The word team isn't necessarily something that I think carries the weight that it does at like the high school or the college level Because you are you are a bunch of individuals. It's a profession and to hear Grady Jarrett say that that he Feels like this team is so close already and we're only through Mandatory minicamp. I think that speaks volumes to Kind of what you're saying like the cohesiveness of the group and how they all just kind of genuinely like being around each other Yeah, and I think in terms of Execution one check out Tori's What she learned at minicamp day one and two that's I don't know maybe twenty five hundred words between the two of them I mean I wrote many many words But I will say probably 500 of those words was a full play-by-play breakdown of the offensive and defensive linemen Catching punts yesterday in order to see who didn't have to run sprints at the end of practice I don't know. That's like gold to me I I did spend a lot of time on my day to break down going over that because I did feel like it was important for people to know who Got their pants and who didn't yeah, and I think it is and trust me We're gonna get to the ridder Mariota nests. Yeah of everything and Cordero Patterson and but let's really get down to the fact that It was almost like watching a penalty shoot out Yeah from ninety two nine was saying yesterday and I think it's kind of right and it ended up being three For the offensive linemen cut everyone too because Anthony rush went first He was the only guy to do a drop. There was a little bit of side stepping Well, here's the thing he was on a tough spot and it cost the defense. Yes, I think some of the other ones I think about like the one that was so Jalen Mayfield went after Anthony rush and it was a Significantly easier punt now I'm not saying that catching a punt is easy if you threw me out there. There's absolutely no way. I'm catching Anything at all. I'm not catching it. I just know I wouldn't but Anthony rush had to like I don't know if the wind caught his or something, but I will give Anthony rush credit like One to go first that's hard But two he had the hardest punt to catch because it drifted so far in the air So Anthony if you're listening to the falcons finalist podcast one, thank you one. Thank you two I got your back, bro. Yeah 100 percent This is this is the anthony rush defense portion of it because he was in a difficult spot Ultimately everybody else caught them which I thought was kind of impressive Last year they lined it was the same type of thing where offense versus defense was lee smith versus marlon davidson Kicking field goals. Love it davidson's pretty good. Maybe like an emergency kicker. Yeah, possibly this year catching puns I thought was pretty fun as well knew that he had the special teams prowess of which he does I know right and maybe it's like an underrated skill that we don't know about Um, but that was a fun way to in practice I think it's the right way to to conclude a spring that while we see a lot of these guys out there in practice And the heat and stuff like that they're meeting a time It's a monday through thursday sort of thing for six weeks the rookies come in but vets have been lifting weights even longer So I will say this too. I think it was good work. I'm sorry. No, I was just gonna say like I saw a lot of tweets Like when I was joking around about the offensive and defensive linemen like catching puns and everything and there were so many people that was like Oh my gosh, like the falcons aren't taking things seriously. Blah blah blah and it's like Come on like let's let's take a breather like let these guys have fun They've been putting in months of work at this point and the final period of practice like they want to go like have fun honestly I hate I hated that I hate it when people are like Not letting people have their fun. Yeah, I think it's supposed to be fun. Yeah, and everybody does it Yeah, like this mini camp mentor mini camp is always three practices I can't think of a single team that actually is on the field for three days Right because it's time to reward some of the hard work and again You want to go into that summer vacation on a high and feeling good about yourself and hopefully Go find a white sand beach I'm gonna do that too and You know, eventually right get together and throw a little bit and get ready and stay in shape for training camp when everything Really gets cranked up. So ultimately how they looked, right? I'm sure There's some diehards out there who want to know about quarterbacks. That's going to be a driving storyline I don't know for a long time. Yeah until we have an answer for the long-term solution at quarterback post matt ryan, which means we're gonna have QB quote-unquote competition right and then we're gonna have is that person the long-term solution and should the other person come in And we're gonna be talking about quarterbacks forever. So Without breaking down yardage totals and completion percentages Generally, what were your thoughts about how the quarterbacks did about what you heard from the quarterbacks and the coaches? Your impressions. Yeah, I think it was I want to go first off by saying that this time is really more It's I put a lot more weight in what they're learning in the quote-unquote classroom than what we're seeing actually out on the field Like yeah, sure you can see marcus mariotta go six for seven and a seven on seven But like you have no idea like what coaches are calling and and you have no idea like what they're asking These guys to work on both offensively and defensively So I don't necessarily put a lot of stock into what I am actually seeing on the field I put more stock in what these guys are saying in terms of how comfortable they feel in the install process And I think that was something that arthur smith talked about On wednesday when he was talking about the progress of minicamp and where he wants these these guys to be And what he considers a sex a successful minicamp to be and he made the comment that he He that it's all about like the install and getting the terminology right and making sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of How things operate here in atlanta with this staff and with this team And so when you're talking about marcus mariotta and desmond ridder, they are kind of the The the focal point of that because offensively everything has to run through them and and so I thought that arthur smith's comments about marcus and desmond understanding the scheme and how far along they are in terms of feeling comfortable and confident in it was What I took the most from This portion Yeah, and there's a lot of there were a lot of interesting things said about both guys and from both guys about Some question that you asked marcus yesterday and has been a topic that he talked about is trying to play free within the offense Not just go through his progressions one two three four and make a choice but To to to play some jazz out there and if he's thinking about that in june, that's going to help him in july and august i thought Not knowing where the ball was supposed to go. I thought his ball looked pretty clean. I thought it was Generally very catchable. I thought it was a receiver friendly ball if We're going to get real minuscule with it when it and when it comes to desmond Desmond ridder. I thought arthur smith said something interesting yesterday. I'm just going to read this quote So I don't mess it up behind the scenes the things that he has done as a rookie really from the neck up Now i'm paraphrasing is what has impressed arthur smith about desmond ridder now i'm back to quoting. He's operating When we're doing rookie walkthroughs when we do these installations on and off the field and in his command Then you're betting on some of the physical things you see at times to catch up. That means mentally He's locked in physically. He's going to start executing that better. He's years ahead of most And here's the poll quote. He's light years ahead of most young quarterbacks in terms of playing from the neck up I will give him that compliment that compliment comes from somebody who doesn't like complimenting rookies I don't know break that down for me gosh, I mean, I just think It's like here's the thing And it's something that we talked to desmond ridder about two days ago. Yeah, he said If someone asked him what surprised him about coming into the league and he made the comment He was like I thought that learning the scheme and getting all getting everything down pat in terms of the install Was going to be the most difficult part of this and he said He feels pretty good about where he's at. He feels very confident Which is such a cool answer as opposed to the other way around Right, you would rather him be good from the neck up But you know and so I think and he also too was he was like now It's about you know, almost like the muscle memory of it He was talking he told he told the school anecdote where he was talking about how He goes home at the end of the night and he goes through the playbook and he gets the play call And he says it out loud and records it on his phone and then puts his headphones on and listens back to What the play call is so that he gets it and he has that muscle memory of saying it out loud and all of that Kind of stuff. I thought that was really really interesting In terms of where he is and what kind of his overall scope of the offense is now You know, we're talking about a number 74 overall pick So Arthur Smith saying like football IQ is there We got to catch him up physically That makes complete sense and I think it's easier To have it that way than the other way around I would rather someone I always my dad used to always tell me in that when I was playing A sports in high school. He was like you're never really going to out athlete anybody But you can outsmart a lot of people and I I'm not saying that like Desmond Ritter isn't an athlete We have seen that he is I'm just saying that like it bodes well for his overall development that we are sitting here on June 16th Talking about how confident he feels in the scheme and not only that he feels in the scheme But how confident Arthur Smith feels in Desmond Ritter commanding a huddle Yeah, it's not just the the quote that we read and then broke down It's the fact that it was uttered at all in front of a microphone And what Arthur Smith's tendencies are that I think that adds it adds weight to it I think that's to your point that is an important step Now just because we're saying all those things doesn't mean that we're saying we're not talking about who's going to start Who's not going to start let's not extrapolate what we're saying. Let's keep it within the context lecture over I do think Marcus Marriota again every time I come away from one of his Media scrums just a nice guy that Marcus Marriota a nice guy who gets it And who I think is a good leader for this team and his own unique not Matt Ryan not Desmond Ritter Not anybody else type of way and he seems very comfortable here Not only within the scheme but with the coaching staff and with what he's doing And I think all those things are positives at this point. Now. This is a layer You know like situation every time that we go we do one of these pods and we see more practices We get more information and we stack it, right? Yeah, but the early impression from my perspective Him often throwing against air or quarterbacks cornerbacks going at 70% Um, I think he I think he managed and I think he did He did well during the offseason program somebody who we haven't seen during the offseason program is running back slash Offensive weapon Cordero Patterson Arthur Smith talked about him being on his own I'm not sure what term he used a veteran veteran offseason program or something. Yeah, he's on a different program The term isn't necessarily vital, but him not being here, right? That can be a flash point for fans It's not necessarily a flash point for me. I don't care at all that he's not here right now Like I don't care at all that he's not on the field. Yeah, he he was here He took a physical he was around but he did not participate in practice and I thought Arthur Smith explained it perfectly Like he's he was smart of him to explain it. Yes I'm glad that he did explain it because that was like you said that was going to be a flash point for people Him saying look like I'm not going to rev Cordero Patterson up for two days in June I need him at 110 percent when we get to July not just July because I feel like he'll he's very much going to still be Not revved fully up through training camp. I highly doubt we see him at all in the preseason at all I think He it really is a we need him at 110 percent weak one ready to go because you know from last year how much of a load he carried and I think it's also we talk about Arthur Smith paying compliments. He actually paid a compliment to Cordero Patterson and essentially being like I trust cp that he's going out in the off season and doing what he needs to do We communicate all the time. So i'm not at all worried that he was not out here for two days in minicamp No, i'm not trying to correlate cp to somebody that I covered for a long time who's in the hall of fame now Uh ladanian tomlinson right different categories. Yes, but in the preseason, they were treated the same LT didn't participate in anything and he didn't take a preseason snap And nobody cared now again, I know he's a goldjacket person But I think the same logic applies that for a position Where you're going to take such a high volume of hits and take us such a high volume of touches And maybe learning from last year where he took all those hits and all those touches that you want to try to preserve his health And um his freshness as much as humanly possible. I don't think that's any problem now Again, we've talked so much about not over analyzing the Off-season program and we're not doing that, but this is the first time We've seen them five times now three open ota practices and two minicamp sessions um General impressions seeing this collection on a field for the first time is a is a point worth discussing here So as you looked at it Was there any position group that stood out to you that you were intrigued by with these new personnel packages and things Like that and anything that jumps out at you there I really like this secondary. I I really do. I really like A. J. Terrell and kasey hayward and Jaylin hawkins richie grant isaah olver when he gets to be a hundred percent darren hall. I mean, I think The this group is going to look very different than it did last year eric harris I didn't say his name, but he's going to be a part of this too I I just think that there are a lot of Good athletes one in this secondary to some guys who was something to prove We talked about richie grant wanting to make a significant jump in his second year in the league I I just feel really Honestly a little bit confident in this secondary's ability to do what needs to be done I'm not in terms of like position groups that I'm worried about I am not at all worried about the secondary. I I do think that it's one of the strengths of this falcons team And I just I just really really think watching them operate together. I think they have a very cohesive group Talk about like the deep safeties and the cornerbacks and everything. I think they work well together And again, I know I've said this thousands of times at this point I just like kasey hayward and aj. Terrell and they have a really good relationship. They've known each other for years They have the same agent. I I just think that this group has something that Is going to be worthwhile to see right my first instinct about position group is the interior linebackers Because there's so much new and deon is still hurt and we don't know what's going to happen with him ultimately um But the more I think about what what i'm intrigued by I don't know if impresses the right term But this intrigued is the better one. Yeah, but this group of pass catchers Yes So we obviously know what kyle pits can do and i've seen brian everett's play a lot having covered the raiders before And drake london is a new piece so that you try to keep an eye on But there's a lot of guys here that could be contributors like alameda zakias and kaderill hodge And anthony forks are right that there are so many different guys that are new to the system that Could be intriguing possibilities. You think if even if it's um Demi or bird if i'm saying it right as a speed threat that there's a lot of guys you think how can they plug and play and find the best five They're not going to have they have what 13 pass catchers Yes 13 receiver seven tight ends maybe a little bit less now eight if you count felipe which you should because which you should Right so ultimately how this group will transform into five or six receivers and three or four tight ends Is going to be fascinating I'm really excited about that portion of the off season because we know it's coming We know that the falcons are going to make cuts With these receiving weapons and we know they're going to add more to the lines of scrimmage We we know that arthur smith has said that he's explained it I am really curious to see How they go about roster construction as we get closer and closer to 53 man cut down in terms of who they value And the body type and the skill set of these receivers of which they're valuing because there are a lot of different guys Out there and I I wonder like are they just going to go big? Are they just going to keep Drawnham allison and odd and tate and you already have kyle pits as a titan you have drakelyn and I mean Are you just going to go big and then have like ozy? Or are you going to try and add some different variations? Which I tend to think that that's probably the direction of which they'll go and so I I'm very very interested to see which Body type they're valuing as we get closer to week one see here's the thing is that I'm a huge roster construction nerd And you're a huge roster construction nerd and sometimes they get together and we can go super nerdy But I I could I could talk a whole half hour just on the body types and the types of talents you can Create yeah or mix together to find the ultimate The ultimate what grouping right so you can get the most out of it kind of as we're wrapping up here Tori There was something interesting that happened yesterday in practice and it's the thing was the number five story on sports centers top 10 yesterday And that was uh top five play top top five play And and we saw it live and you know the play was kyle pits running Relatively standard route and scoring a touchdown you'll probably see a lot of that this year But it was him versus aj terrell, which happens a couple times a day But the best part about it was there was some Verbal exchange not he did no not contentious Just uh no one on the defense wanted number eight to score all day. They were very vocal about that Very vocal it was fantastic And it was funny because after practice we're talking to kasey hayward and he said aj and kyle We're going at it before practice even started just like trash talking to each other all in good fun um and Then during practice the entire secondary is just like Don't get the ball to eight like no touchdowns right and it was fantastic It's what I love about practice is you get to see those interactions and then kyle goes and he does score a quote-unquote touchdown And launches the ball up in the air like has some choice words for the secondary the dbs and then walks back over And it's just so fun and after practice they were talking to kyle and he he was talking about like the competition between Between him and aj terrell and I think it's so great to see two Guys who we know is the foundation and kind of the face of the franchise at this point It's two guys you want to build around if you're terry fontano and arthur smith And to see them have that relationship in that healthy dose of competition and to go against each other as much as they do I think is really fun to watch. Yeah, definitely. And it's a good again. Yes, it's work. Yes It should be fun. Yes, they should want to Yeah, talk back and forth and as kyle pits put it laugh about it in the locker room, which is exactly what happened I'm sure at some point during camp kyle is going to get got by aj Oh, of course, that's good and kasey probably. Yeah, those things are going to happen. But I think That what you need to get accomplished from the off season to make your quarterbacks feel like they know the system Make your inside linebackers feel like the and safeties feel like they know the system go back and read the story on Jalen hawkins and richie grant. They're they're getting it down rashaan evans is getting it down and I think there's a little bit of positivity as they move through As they have moved through the off season program and they head towards training camp So with that we're going to go ahead and put a bow on this one wrapping up the ota sessions And really heading off for summer vacation. We're still going to give you some some Good quality content for your ear here and there's going to be an awesome mini series coming up That's all the hint i'm going to get but can not freaking wait so It's just going to be so great. Yeah all as we head towards training camp in late july So thank you guys very much as always for downloading for listening do us a solid if you haven't already great review subscribe all that fun stuff And again, I appreciate you listening and we are going to talk to you real real soon