Atlanta Falcons Training Camp Day 5: Youth is Served

The Atlanta Falcons kicked off Day 5 of training camp on Thursday morning with the second day of padded practice. The energy and intensity that had been apparent all camp was there tenfold. 

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had another great day. He hit KhaDeral Hodge on a beauty of a pass for a touchdown. He also hit Drake London deep down the right sideline. The ball was slightly underthrown, but London made an excellent adjustment with starting cornerback A.J. Terrell in coverage.

Penix also connected with London on a deep wheel route earlier in practice, this time with perfect placement on the ball.

However, he did struggle in the red zone. Penix went 0-3 and threw his first interception of training camp. It was a jump ball for London with Natrone Brooks in coverage. Brooks was in perfect position and came down with the ball in the endzone.

The other two incompletions by Penix were poor throws. On one, he missed Ray-Ray McCloud wide right. On his third, London caught the ball but was unable to remain in bounds.

A particularly nice throw to Bijan Robinson was nullified by a holding penalty drawn by rookie edge rusher James Pearce Jr. Pearce has been a menace in camp through the first week. The left-handed signal caller went through four-plus days of camp before throwing his first interception.

A big storyline for the day was the dominance of the first-team defense, especially the pass rush, against the second-team offense. Even without first-round rookie Jalon Walker, the pass rush was wreaking havoc.

On back-to-back plays, Pearce and second-year defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro got home to sack Kirk Cousins. Orhorhoro has sacked Cousins (or a would-be sack) every day of camp. The Falcons are hoping Orhorhor can step into a starting role, and the early returns have been good in training camp. 

Pearce had another great play in redzone drills where he got into the backfield and blew up a run for negative yardage. 

“It’s iron sharpens iron every day, and that’s what I love about this team,” second-year defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus told the media following practice.

There’s a youth movement in Flowery Branch, and there’s reason for optimism on both sides of the ball.