Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn excited by Takkarist McKinley’s debut

Although he didn’t record any stats, Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn approved of the debut from first round pick defensive end Takkarist McKinley

It wasn’t a lot to go off of as defensive end Takkarist McKinely finished the game with no tackles and just one quarterback hit. It was still a very encouraging performance by the UCLA product especially when considering there were major concerns about him even being able to play to start of his rookie season.

The No. 26 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft had shoulder surgery in February and rehab timelines had him missing part of the regular season as he recovered. Instead, Takk has been a fixture for the Falcons in camp and finally made his debut on the field in their second preseason game.

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He didn’t start, but came in off the bench and provided pressure on a couple of plays and laid out Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Josh Dobbs on a pass in which McKinley missed the sack by a fraction of a second. It was encouraging for fans, and Falcons head coach Dan Quinn approved as well,

Quinn had the following to say about McKinley according to Kelsey Conway of AtlantaFalcons.com:

"“He was very excited to get going, he played a little bit at right end in our nickel package and a little bit on the punt return game. For him, getting his first NFL action was exciting for him. It was good having him out there.”"

McKinley makes the Falcons pass rush look much more formidable in 2017. That’s saying a lot considering they already had 2016 NFL sack leader Vic Beasley, Jr. rushing off the edge. Now they throw in the exciting rookie opposite him, and they look tough to stop.

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Again, it was just one game and there were no stats recorded so expectations need to be tempered. Even so, it was nice to see him on the field so much earlier than expected.