Two Falcons Make Strong Roster Push vs. Tennessee Titans

“Cover-2 look. The safety didn't get over in time, and it was just pretty much an option route on the sliding,” Blair said about what he saw on the touchdown. “I think everybody kind of drove on the option route and kind of left that open, so used to seeing it. It was kind of the same play that we had the first time we threw the interception, and we just came back to it and made the correct move.”

Blair has had a solid camp, making some plays with the 2nd team offense. As he showed on Friday, he can make plays down the field, and Michael Penix Jr is a quarterback who loves to get the ball deep. There’s no such thing as too many deep threats for the second-year QB, especially with Darnell Mooney a question mark for the Week 1 opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

London said earlier this offseason that the wide receiver room has a “next man up” mentality, and everybody is going to go out there and do their thing. Blair has proven that with over 120 yards and two touchdowns in the first two games of preseason action. 

Blair echoed that sentiment on how each receiver pushes one another. 

“We take every opportunity and try to make the most of it,” Blair said. “This is special in our room. It's a lot of competition. We've got great wide receivers. The main thing is you just want to show the coaches that you know where to align where assigned and that you can go out and make plays as well.” 

Brooks recorded an interception in Friday’s game. He made a great play on a ball that rookie quarterback Cam Ward threw to former Atlanta Falcon wide receiver Van Jefferson. Brooks showed off his ball skills on that play. Also nice to see was rookie James Pearce Jr. get pressure and force a throw. 

Brooks has mostly been running with the second team defense in camp; however, he has had some run with the starters as well. During the final day of training camp in the joint practice with the Titans, the corner was rotating in with the starters. He broke up a Cam Ward pass last week and was also the first defender to intercept Michael Penix Jr in camp. 

“You can always tell if you're having a good camp,” Brooks said. “You know when you're having good days and consistently good days. That's the thing about camp that you want to try to do, have consistent good days. Everybody can come out and have one good day. You know you're having a good camp once you have consistently good days. That's what I try to do, have consistent good days.”

Consistent is a great way to describe Brooks. In camp, he has often found himself near the ball in some way, breaking up passes to Drake London in the endzone and even getting his hands on an interception, both in camp and in preseason, while rarely being on the wrong side of a big play.

Both Blair and Brooks made solid pushes for roster spots with their performances in Atlanta’s second preseason game. The Falcons are in action against the Dallas Cowboys on Friday, August 22nd in Arlington, Texas.

That will be the final preseason game before final roster cuts are due by Tuesday, August 27, at 4 p.m. EST.