 Ahead on Early Birds, the Falcons are back at the Benz and questions about the offense. Well, yeah, they're back too. We'll get you ready for Sunday, plus Shocks in the Film Room. Lorenzo Carter tells you his favorite pass rush secrets, and we get you ready for Florida, Georgia. Georgia floor. I know. Oh, sorry, Stetson and DJ. Early Birds is right now. Grab a cup of your favorite, Joe, and let's talk Falcons football on Early Birds, presented by Mercedes-Benz. Oh, good morning, and welcome into Early Birds. He's DJ. I'm Justin. We'll get that name of that football game later today, figured out. Yeah, yeah, I enjoyed that. At some point, Falcons back in division play tomorrow, trying to get back to 500. Let's start things off with the opening drive Falcons and Panthers tomorrow here on Fox 5 in Shock. Here we are again, scratching our heads about the offense. Kyle Pitts, nine yards last week. Drake London, nine yards. When the style works, it works. When it doesn't, it's ugly. Yes, and people are starting to get a little antsy when, you know, you're not throwing a football around, because you look around the league, or you just look at the game you just played in, and Joe Burrow throws it around 40 times, and we threw it 13 times, and we got some really good playmakers on the outside. We're able to get them to football. We have to find a way to find a pass game. That's a must. Running the football is good, but we need to throw the rock to our star players, those guys. One guy not getting antsy just yet, Drake London. I'm not mad at it at all. I'm just waiting for opportunities, and when they come, I'm going to try to make the best of it. I do believe that our matchups outside with Drake and Kyle and OZ, it creates matchup promise for them. You know, I would love for them to love the box. I'd love to throw the ball a little more, but at the same time, it just kind of depends on what they want to do. All right, as we continue the opening drive, the second point is about the secondary. Falcons could be without three of their four opening day starters in that unit tomorrow. Casey Hayward on IR. AJ Terrell's got a hamstring injury. Jalen Hawkins dealing with a concussion. Reason for concern, DJ? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a reason these guys are starters. The reason why these guys are the guys who you want in there. Now, not to take anything away from the other guys. They're international football league for a reason. They're pretty good, but you want your guys in it. You're starting wise who absolutely are the key to your defense, and who you kind of built this defense around. So you're absolutely hoping they can be a part of it. And one guy looking forward to more opportunities? Yeah, D. Alfred. What I've been waiting for my whole life to be able to, you know, get a lot of playing time and, you know, just put the team, not necessarily put the team in my back, but just do what I can here to do. And, you know, just make plays and just help out this organization, this secondary and this defense as a whole. It's a great group of men, and they support everybody, and they believe in everybody, and they all believe in their teammates. All right, and as we wrap up the opening drive, let's talk a little bit about the Panthers, right? They trade Christian McCaffrey and respond by beating the Bucks. Who knew? P.J. Walker will start again a quarterback tomorrow. So, Shaq, what do you make of this group? Yeah, it's an interesting group, and I think they're kind of built the same way we are. They want to run the football. They want to form, and last we've had over a hundred yards. You got Tuba Hubbard, who was a physical runner as well. D.J. Moore on the outside. P.J. Walker has the ability to run and scramble. And then on the defensive side, you know the usual guys up front. So this is going to be interesting to see how they counter it with the Falcon try to do. But this is a kind of control the ball kind of offense. We'll see what happens tomorrow. There should be two teams looking for some yards through the air. That's for sure. Welcome into Early Birds alongside D.J. Shockley. I'm Justin Felder. Panthers, they also have some playmakers on defense. Brian Burns can really get to the quarterback. And don't forget, linear high school alum, Derek Brown in the middle. Yeah, those are two guys I was just thinking about. Into the quarterback having an issue. You got to make sure you know where they are. Block those guys because they can wreak some havoc. Yeah, Panthers defense, really a standout group. Well, Shock, the film room has never seemed so good. I've been inclined to believe it never would. Sweet Caroline, like Caroline. Just, just be glad I didn't do P.D. Pablo this week. No one, nobody wants to see that. All right, go war on the telestrator. We'll see you in a few. But first, Isaiah Oliver's return to the field feels extra important this week with some injury questions in the Falcon secondary. Oliver returned two weeks ago from an ACL injury, just shy of a year after that injury initially happened. Now, when we talked one-on-one this week, I asked Isaiah about the lengthy rehab and what it's really like for those of us who've never been through that kind of lengthy comeback journey. The hardest thing wasn't really like the work. It was just like how long it took. For me, at least, that was the worst part. So you do the same group of exercises like three months straight. You know what I mean? Before you can move on to something else. So it gives you a lot of argumentary just having to go through 10 months before you can play football. What's the one exercise that you could go through the rest of your life without ever having to do it again? Because that is like like extensions? It's not an exercise, but the BFR, which stands for blood flow restriction. It's like a little machine kind of wrapping around your leg and then like squeezes it, you know, to restrict the blood flow. That, yeah, I could go without doing that for the rest of my life for sure. How's it being back so far? How do you feel the last couple of games have gone? Good, yeah. The needs have been holding up really well. I haven't had any issues, so that's always been good. Getting more comfortable every day. So that's going to be a big thing for the rest of the year. Kind of a different week now with all the injuries your unit's dealing with. What's that been like? Oh, yeah, it's been tough. But I feel like we always had a really good group this year. We had a really good group. I went a lot of depth, so I think that now it's going to be able to show up and I think we'll be all right. One of the things Coach P said about you with coming back was the communication just ramps up. What does that mean? Because you think of the guy with the green dot. You think the safety is kind of lining people up. What's your role in that? So in our defense, it's a little bit different and probably a lot of other defenses. But the nickel kind of makes a lot of calls to the back end. Most people don't think of the defense. You think of the Mike Linebacker kind of calls the play and the safety kind of make all that adjustment. For Coach P's in this system, like the defense doesn't grow unless the nickel makes a call first. So that's something that you kind of got to get used to. Like when we had new guys playing the nickel spot, maybe they haven't been in this system before their first year. It can kind of be a little difficult because that's not something that you normally do. So making the nickel calls and then kind of, that kind of sets the coverage. Looking at the standings, it's way too early to look at the standings. Not even at the halfway point. But to have gone through what you guys have gone through this year and games you feel like you could have won to still be tied for the division lead, what do you think when you still see that? I mean, it's good. It's good for sure. It just shows you, you know, just how competitive the NFL is really. We know that we're able to take care of business the way that we expect to. That we'll be there in the end fighting for that division lead. I mean, that's really everyone's goal is to win that division, secure a home playoff spot. So we just know that this divisional game at home is a big one. 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. Now, I know we are all excited about the run game and we're not so excited about the past game. So I'm going to talk about it in a good manner and hopefully it transfer over just on tomorrow where a big game. All right, let's talk about this big play that we had here at the Mid-Bird on the touchdown play here. Now, here's the Mid-Bird here. One thing to look at is he's in this tight split. Because he's in this tight split, it forces this corner to play off. Now, the covers they're in is called quarters. I mean, he has this quarter of the field. This guy has this quarter of field. You got half field over here. This is the perfect route combination versus this particular coverage. Once you're going to get here, Kyle Pitts is going to run a corner route which is going to take this guy away. Then you're going to get the Mid-Bird on this deep post right here versus outside leverage. This is a perfect combination versus this. Now, watch where the play gets started. He outside releases here and now, look, this safety is looking right at Kyle Pitts because that's his responsibility. And you got outside leverage versus a in-breaking route and it's so easy to hit this here. Now, watch the good job of steaming him outside. Look at this ball. It's already in the air and he's even with him. But watch where the ball plays with this. Here's the safety again. He's taking Kyle Pitts out. But watch on the back side. Watch him clear him and a nice catch and throw and ends with a humongous game. Also, a touchdown. If we can create more plays like this in a past game, more explosive plays, we got a chance to be really special on offense, but we have to throw it 13 times. It's not enough. We have to throw up more justice. And there's an example of Kyle Pitts having an impact even if he doesn't get the ball. Thanks, Shock, more to come on Early Birds. As DJ would call it, it is Florida Georgia Day. He's right over there. He's giving me a big thumbs up right now. We'll have some mimosas to get ready for the cocktail party in Jacksonville. Plus, there's a speed in my length using that long arm, getting it out there. Speaking of Georgia Bulldogs, Lorenzo Carter uses all of his six-foot-five frame to get to the quarterback. We go deep with the former dog. Next. Falcons fans score a touchdown with low-tire prices that made these tires and brakes. With the official tire retailer of the Atlanta Falcons, visit MavisTire.com to find a store near you. Early Birds is presented by Mercedes-Benz, the best or none. And brought to you by Georgia Lottery. 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. Brought to you by Truist. BB&T and SunTrust are now Truist. Here again is Fox 5's Justin Felder. Welcome back into Early Birds. And I heard there is a big game in down in Jacksonville. There is. You got your Gator blue pocket square on there. I mean, what day is it? I'm a kind guy, so I try to give everybody love. But not today. Georgia, Florida. Florida, Georgia coming up at Jacksonville down at 3.30 today. We'll see which name was right by the end of the day. Both teams coming in off by shock. Let's talk about this one. The Gators have a dynamic, if inconsistent, quarterback, Anthony Richardson. Can he give the dogs defense some problems today? He absolutely can, Justin. He's a guy that has the ability to break off big runs. You saw it versus LSU. You saw big plays with his legs. Now what you mentioned is the inconsistency with his arm only complete 56%. That can be an issue. Georgia looking to get him in third long. But if you give this guy some confidence, you give him a chance to make some plays, he can absolutely wreck a defense. And over the years, Georgia has been very susceptible to guys who can run and move. So if Richardson finds that confidence, it should be interesting. You saw the video of Kirby Smart having fun in Jacksonville. He's had that before, but the coach also has some high praise for Florida's quarterback. He's grown a lot and he's gotten considerably better to me during this season. Like from the start of the season, game one, you watch every game in sequence and you say, man, this guy is growing and getting better and they don't just limit things for him. Like they put a lot of shift motion. They put a lot of things on top of him to handle and he manages those well. All right, Florida and Georgia today at 3.30 p.m. We'll see. So if your dogs can get past the Gators, Tennessee looms on the horizon. I don't know if we're going to call it Tennessee, Georgia or Georgia, Tennessee. We'll cross that bridge. Tennessee today, though, they get Kentucky. Is that going to be a challenge for them? You know, I think it is. Kentucky is a tough physical team, but Tennessee adds so many different things to their offense. Hooker's got 18 touchdowns, only one interception. He has continued to take care of the football, but they get Will Levitt's back who was injured had a turptow injury. Now he's back at a week off. So he is healthy. This should be an interesting ball game. Kentucky can kind of take away some of the possessions. You got a good game. You see Kentucky here running it up on Florida. Which of these quarterbacks real quick shock you like? Two guys that are mentioned as possible high-round draft picks. Yeah, this is going to be interesting. If you were to say last year, I would say Will Levitt's because he's a more pro-style. But now you're watching some of the things that Hennan Hooker can do. He's absolutely playing a pro-style offense on the next level. Yeah, Tennessee, a lot of respect for Kentucky. This is a different matchup than past Tennessee-Kentucky games. I don't believe that there was a psychological hurdle that our program had to get over. It was a preparation performance hurdle that we had to get over. We were beginning that journey last year. It was one of the steps, the hurdles for us to prepare the right way, practice the right way, and then go out and execute and let us the play the way we did on the back half of the season. Our last matchup we want to talk to you about today is our Zaxby's indescribably good game of the week. How about Ohio State and Penn State? It's that noon. It's right here on Fox 5. Maybe the last big hurdle for the Buckeyes before their season finale against Michigan. Could be an interesting one here. DJ, how do you see it? Yeah, you think about Ohio State and CJ Stroud and how good he's been this year of top the highs and ranks. They've beaten Penn State five straight years. They do have to go to Happy Valley, but I think Ohio State just has too many weapons, too many big-time players for Penn State to worry about. I like Ohio State in this one. Should be a huge atmosphere indeed. That game at noon here on Fox 5 in shock, you better hit the road to Jacksonville for... Georgia, Florida. Florida, Georgia. Come on. We'll work on it later. Come on. All right, man. All right, speaking of dogs, Lorenzo Carter has been getting to the quarterback since his days in Athens. Even back to North Cross High School, Carter had a big hit on Joe Burrow last Sunday. The Falcons need him to keep bringing the pressure off the edge. Here's Lorenzo explaining his favorite pass rush movement this week's Going Deep. There's a speed in my length, using length, using that long arm, getting it out there. A lot of times we're going against guys that are 6'8", 6'7", 300 plus pounds, so you try to keep them from getting into your body because once they get in, they don't call a lot of holding in the NFL in case people don't realize. So you're saying long arm is just kind of getting a hand what on their chest to kind of keep them away? Yeah, you got to get it on their chest, get it on that peck, and make sure you keep them from getting to you because once they get to you and grab you, it's not a lot you can do against a 350 human being. And is that kind of what we're seeing so much in these drills and training camp, like working around the corner, like once you kind of get the corner, closing that gap? Oh yeah, you got to close the gap because they're athletes now. This is a different kind of game now. Everybody's an athlete on the field, so once you beat them, you got to make sure you keep beating them because they can recover pretty quickly. Lorenzo will be trying to chase down P.J. Walker today. We've got more to come on Early Birds. Falcons hoping to put a scare in the Panthers, but their costumes were bringing some smiles this week. We go trick-and-treating after the break. You're watching Early Birds, presented by Mercedes-Benz on your official home for Falcons football, Fox 5 and Lynn. It's a sight no Falcons fan or any NFL fan likes to see if a player gets seriously injured, the dreaded blue tent. It's what NFL teams now use to initially assess player injuries right when they come off the field. Dr. Kyle Hammond explains that process in this week's Emory Road to Recovery. The blue medical tent will typically be on the field and there will typically be an examining table in there. And usually during the game it's down like this and hopefully it's down the whole game because we're not using it. But basically what we use the tent for is injury evaluations. You know, if we need to talk to a player with some kind of level of privacy and most importantly for concussion evaluations or head injury evaluations. So let's say a player comes off the field and we suspect there was a head injury or potentially a concussion. We would then bring them over to the sideline to start that initial concussion evaluation like I said there being an exam table in there and so they would sit on that exam table and then we would raise the tent to then create, like I said, some level of privacy as we do the evaluation. Not only from the other team but also from the fan base and from the stadium and from all the cameras and all the networks that are monitoring the game. So then we would go into the tent and once we get into the tent the athlete would be sitting on the exam table. I would be in here with our athletic training staff with any of my other doctors or any other medical staff that would be with me during the game and then we would perform our evaluation. Other injuries that we would evaluate in here knee injuries or ankle injury, shoulder injuries everything can be done in here on the exam table and I can have privacy, it's a little more quiet in here. It just takes a little level of anxiety off of the player, the rest of our staff. We can take our time, get a good examination and then determine if the player is safe to come back into the game or also if we need to come back here to the locker room or some other treatment or potentially take them out of the game. All right Justin, we'll be going into the blue tent after today with its gators. More to come on Early Birds, the Falcons rookies brought some Halloween fun to a children's hospital this week. That's next on Early Birds. This has been presented to you by Mercedes Benz. The best or nothing. Falcons fans, score a touchdown with low tire prices at Mavis Tires and Breaks. The official tire retailer of the Atlanta Falcons. Visit MavisTire.com to find a store near you. All right, time for our play of the day presented by Lucra, the new friendly competition app. Shock, here's the question. Who will have more receiving yards tomorrow, Kyle Pitts or Drake London? Oh, it's a good one. I think I'm a ride with number eight Kyle Pitts. I think this is the game. He has like 10 receptions over 100 yards and has a monster day. All right, you're going Kyle Pitts. I'll tell you what, Drake London, he's due to and it would be a good day's work if he gets it done. Cornerback JC Horne out of Alpharetta High School, he's a rising star. Tough to decide on this one and if you want to compete head-to-head with your friends, just scan the QR code on your screen. What is the holiday Halloween weekend? That's season it calls for time-tested traditions and for Falcons rookies, that means trading in their pads in jerseys for costumes and candy. Every Halloween the Falcons rookies they dress up in Halloween's costumes and spend time with kids at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. They continue that tradition virtually through COVID, they were back face-to-face this week shock any costumes you particularly like here? We got Luigi, is that a hot dog on the right? I'm a fan of Luigi. Okay, Luigi's a good one. We got a Cheetos bag. It's tough to tell who's who. They say it's a great day the players do to spend, great way to spend their day off. I feel good, honestly I'm a people person myself so just getting to hang out with people or hang out with kids, making that day better it brings me some sense of joy to know that I'm making someone else day better. Alright, that's always great to see these guys. Where's your outfit bro? I got a costume, saving it for Monday. We can work it out. Well let's skip the costumes for a moment and talk about the non-scary situation this game on Sunday, great segue. One more match to watch Falcons of Panthers. We talked about him early, Brian Burns. We cannot allow him to have a big game. Caleb McGarry, Jake Matthews, lock him down. Yeah, the Falcons haven't been throwing the ball much, Marcus Mariota has been getting sacked maybe a little too much. That's it from us here on Early Birds for our quarterback, DJ Shockley. I'm Justin Felder, have a good morning and a great weekend. Florida Jordan.