It's the weekend, but the Atlanta Falcons are preaching no rest for the wicked. Since starting training camp, they have practiced for four consecutive mornings, with their first off day of the summer coming this morning--which offers ample opportunity to look at what we've seen in camp thus far.
Saturday morning was an interesting one. It was another step in the right direction for Tua Tagovailoa, and Michael Penix Jr. had a better practice than he did on Friday, but Jack Strand and Cooper Rush have still dominated the reps in 11-on-11 while Matthew Bergeron cashed in with a major payday.
And speaking of, the next time we see the Falcons practice, Kevin Stefanski confirmed that we will see the team suit up in full pads. But Saturday's practice, while shorter than normal, offered both some interesting tidbits from Stefanski and some intriguing storylines we should keep an eye on.
What are the biggest storylines from Day 4 of Falcons training camp?
It's (Cooper) Rush Hour
Undrafted rookie Jack Strand has been taking the majority of the 11-on-11 reps for the Falcons with Penix and Tua both ailing, and is coming off of one of his better practices on Friday. It felt like he was pulling away in the QB3 competition, but the recently-signed Rush urged us to hold our horses.
ESPN's Marc Raimondi reported that the 32-year-old took reps with the first-team offense since he was signed on Wednesday--and he seized the day. He completed six of 10 pass attempts, including completions to Brian Robinson Jr. (2), Kyle Pitts, Jahan Dotson, and Chris Blair, among others.
Not a great performance for Avieon Terrell
When the Dirty Birds drafted Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell with the 48th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, there were high hopes for A.J. Terrell's little brother to develop into a long-term starter. But he was hampered by an injury doing OTAs, and the path to starting has taken longer than expected.
While there have been some bright moments for the second-round rookie, Saturday was not ideal. The Athletic's Josh Kendall reported that Terrell spent most of his time with the second and third-team defense and noted that he was flagged at least twice by his count. That's not exactly ideal.
A lot of competition in a lot of different areas
Before practice kicked off, we got to see Stefanski take the podium, and the two-time Coach of the Year got to assert a point he's emphasized all offseason: jobs are earned, . The Falcons have preached the importance of competition, and while it starts at QB, it's true for the entire roster.
The main culprits here are at nickel cornerback and inside linebacker next to Divine Deablo. Sydney Brown has been seeing a lot of work in the nickel, and Darnay Holmes, and AJ Woods also took reps with the first-team defense out of the nickel, while several names are in the running for the LB2 job.
Two rookies are breaking through
Speaking of linebacker, Christian Harris may not have the stranglehold on that job that we expect. The Falcons rotated in one-half of their young dynamic duo in that spot next to Deablo in sixth-round rookie Harold Perkins-0 his first reps with the starting defense this summer--but Harris got some too.
I still think Harris will end up the Week 1 starter at LB2, but the the sixth-round rookie is making waves. And the other half of this young LB duo in fourth-round rookie Kendal Daniels returned to practice after having a scheduled rest day--and like Perkins, also rotated in with the starting defense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google