FLOWERY BRANCH Authentic Courtland Sutton Jersey , Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons are mostly healthy and don’t want to risk getting an important player injured when they close out the preseason this week.
Coach Dan Quinn wouldn’t say so for certain, but it’s unlikely the Falcons will play any starters or key backups Thursday against Miami. The depth chart is nearly full, so Quinn and his staff will use the exhibition to evaluate the last available spots on the 53-man roster.
“There will be some who are competing to be practice squad and developmental and some still battling for the 53,” Quinn said Monday. “The goal is also if it’s not here, it’s somewhere, so those guys can put out tapes to get other opportunities.”
Atlanta opens the regular season Sept. 6 at Philadelphia, the defending Super Bowl champion that knocked the favored Falcons out of the playoffs seven months ago. Quinn wants to keep everyone as healthy as possible.
Star receiver Julio Jones and running back Devonta Freeman have been held out of all the preseason games for precautionary reasons given their injury histories, but neither has missed practice.
Linebacker Deion Jones, cornerback Desmond Trufant, and free safety Ricardo Allen were nicked up in earlier exhibitions and didn’t dress for last week’s preseason loss at Jacksonville.
Quinn sees plenty of areas for the Falcons to clean up. Against the Jaguars, the first-team offense failed to convert its five chances on third down and allowed Matt Ryan to get sacked twice.
The first-team defense wasn’t stout enough against the run and gave up Leonard Fournette’s 21-yard score.
“I thought in this game there were too many leaky yards on some of the runs,” Quinn said. “They had a long touchdown run. Those two explosive runs were uncomfortable for those guys.”
Quinn likes what he’s seen from running back Tevin Coleman in the preseason. The No. 2 running back has worked exclusively with the starters and is averaging 5.4 yards on 18 runs. Quinn also was pleased that the defense looked sharp on the opening drive when cornerback Robert Alford tipped the ball on strong safety Keanu Neal’s interception.
Though the third- and fourth-stringers will take most of the snaps when the Falcons (0-3) face Miami (0-3), Quinn still wants his front-line players to improve.
He called out rookie receiver Calvin Ridley in a team film session Monday after the first-round draft pick dropped two passes with the ball in his hands and no contact from the Jaguars.
“Nobody escapes that,” Quinn said. “That’s part of the process we go through to say, ‘Hey, man, we expect you to own that moment.’ It wasn’t just him. There were other people.”
Quinn used the film session as a teaching moment for Ridley, who likely won’t play this week, and a reminder that the Falcons led the NFL in drops last season.
“I think to be a true team Bradley Chubb Color Rush Jersey , you have to show all the examples — the one where he really lights ’em up good and the ones that he had a drop,” Quinn said.
“Probably his first taste. Last week he was on his way to becoming the next rookie Pro Bowl receiver and then he had a drop. Welcome to the NFL.
“He’s a really detailed and prideful guy. There’s an intensity he brings in practice is past maybe his age. I really respect that part of his game. As mistakes happen, which they’re going to, I generally want to see how a guy rebounds.”
Davis Webb took a step toward restoring confidence that he can be a capable backup quarterback for the New York Giants.
Webb took advantage of his opportunity to play for Eli Manning, throwing a go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter to help the New York Giants beat the Detroit Lions 30-17 Friday night.
"Everyone says that wins don't matter in the preseason, but they leave a much better feeling in the locker room," Giants coach Pat Shurmur said.
Webb was 14 of 20 for 140 yards with an 8-yard TD pass to Wayne Gallman Jr., who scored for a second time later in the game. Webb showed poise in the pocket and touch down the field, connecting on a perfectly lofted 40-yard pass to Russell Shepard to set up Aldrick Rosas' 55-yard field goal in the second quarter.
"I just wanted to hit the reset button on everything that happened last week," Webb said.
Manning, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, was a healthy scratch.
Webb, a 2017 third-round pick, played well after performing well last week. He was 9 of 22 for 70 yards, sailing passes over open receivers in the preseason opening loss against Cleveland to raise some concerns about whether he's ready to be the team's No. 2 quarterback.
"I was very happy to see Davis Webb bounce back that well as a starter," Shurmur said. "He made significant improvements from last week to this week, and that shows why we have so much confidence in him. I thought he was calmer and he did a very nice job."
The Giants rested rookie running back Saquon Barkley with a strained hamstring and didn't test receiver Odell Beckham Jr.'s surgically repaired ankle.
Giants rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta, a fourth-round pick, scrambled and scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter to put the Giants ahead 17-3. Gallman took an inside handoff and bounced to the outside on an 11-yard run to put New York up by three TDs early in the fourth.
The Lions started Matthew Stafford after sitting him in last week's game at Oakland and he didn't have much time to make plays behind a porous offensive line. Stafford was 2 of 5 for 51 yards and was sacked twice and hit once as he threw.
"I don't think we played particularly well at any position," he said.
Jake Rudock replaced Stafford in the second quarter and finished 23 of 30 for 171 yards with a TD. Rudock came back in the fourth, relieving veteran Matt Cassel, who threw an interception.
Even though it was just a preseason game, Patricia was clearly not happy with his players, staff and himself.
"We got to do a better job and it starts with me," he said. "We've got to get these guys ready to go. We obviously have a lot of work to do."
INJURIES
Giants: RB Jalen Simmons left the game in the second half with a concussion. Shepard left the game in the fourth with a finger injury.
Lions: LB Steve Longa appeared to hurt his right knee when he tried to tackle Lauletta on his TD run in the third quarter. After being evaluated on the field, Longa walked off the field slowly and went toward the locker room.
HE'S BACK
Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah played for the first time this preseason, coming back from an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the beginning of training camp.
"I noticed him on a couple plays," Patricia said. "It was good that he was out there, working hard."
NATIONAL ANTHEM
There were no player protests during the national anthem. The Lions, as they did last week, stood on the sideline with their arms locked together. The Giants all stood at attention and many players held their right hand over their heart.
PREGAME CHAT
Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders met Barkley before the game, chatted briefly and posed for some pictures.
"He's put together," Sanders said.
UP NEXT
Giants: Face the Jets on the field they share, technically as the visitors on Aug. 24.