Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn talks Week 3 playing time

Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn speaks about the team’s plans for playing time in Preseason Week 3 during a conference call on Monday

The preseason is half way done (thankfully) and the all-important Week 3 game is quickly approaching. For the Atlanta Falcons that’s a matchup to tune in to for more than just the regular reasoning.

Atlanta will play on Saturday Night, August 26 against the Arizona Cardinals. What makes this one special is it will be their first contest in their new home, Mercedes Benz Stadium. The home of the Falcons is a marvel in modern construction and for that reason alone it’s worth tuning into the game. It’s also worth it because Week 3 is typically a dress rehearsal where teams play their best guys as they prepare for the regular season.

On Monday, head coach Dan Quinn talked about their plan for the game in a conference call. This quote from the call goes over their approach to the upcoming game— courtesy of Will McFadden of AtlantaFalcons.com:

"“Our approach will be more on an individual basis – who we really want to try to feature. Sometimes you see that postgame when you see, boy that guy had a lot of plays in the game, that may have been a player we were really trying to find out about. … There’s a number of guys that we’re really trying to dig in on and find out what they can do. That’s as important to me as what they can’t do, because you have to find out both and what can they do and how can we feature them.”"

From the sound of that, players like quarterback Matt Ryan, running back Devonta Freeman and edge rusher Vic Beasley, Jr. may not log a ton of minutes. Quinn refers to figuring out what a player can and cannot do — all those above mentioned players are known commodities.

Instead there could be an emphasis on players like rookies Takkarist McKinley — defensive end — and Duke Riley — linebacker. They may also try and get an extended look at an undrafted rookie like Reggie Davis, the Georgia wide receiver who has been turning heads with his play.

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The best thing about it all though is that we are nearly to the games that actually count.