5 things you may have missed from the Falcons' eighth practice of training camp

The Atlanta Falcons are officially in Week 2 of training camp, and they're taking the added level of intensity seriously. Not only have the pads come on, the Falcons have been doing live tackling drills. Kevin Stefanski wasn't joking around about getting this team in playing shape with Week 1 looming.

We're going to see the Falcons have hold their "Saturday Night Lights" practice tonight at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill tonight. And their first preseason game against the Denver Broncos is less than a Week away, but Friday morning's practice session once again offered it's fair share of storylines.

We saw some big days from the quarterbacks, a big play from Bijan Robinson, and got a further glimpse into what the defense might look like without Jalon Walker. So in case you missed what happened in Flowery Branch on Friday morning, here are five storylines you may have missed.

What are the biggest storylines from Day 8 of Falcons training camp?

Both sides of the quarterback battle had strong performances

If you're a QB for the Falcons, you probably had a good performance on Friday morning. Per the AJC's Daniel Flick, Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa threw two touchdowns apiece, with Tua throwing his to Bijan Robinson and Olamide Zaccheus while Penix went to Drake London and UDFA Keelan Marion.

While Tagovailoa struggled in 1-on-1s, he went 4-for-5 in 11s, including the aforementioned touchdown passes--which included a beautiful one to Zaccheus. Meanwhile, Penix and London's connection was put on display, but his touchdown to Marion was one of the best plays of the day.

Bijan Robinson is back and already making his presence felt

After missing the start of training camp while he held in for a new contract extension, BIjan Robinson was itching to get back out on the football field. And he returned to practice the Falcons signed him to a three-year, $66.75 million extension which briefly made him the highest-paid RB in NFL history.

And all it took was one play for the All-Pro back to make his presence felt. During his first 11-on-11 series of training camp, Tua Tagovailoa found Bijan on a wheel route for what would've been a 90-yard touchdown, prompting him to yell "We back, boy" as he ran down the left sideline into the end zone.

Ethan Onianwa is gradually making a bigger impact

The Dirty Birds didn't just have 1-on-1 drills between the WRs and CBs. They had some between the offensive line and defensive line as well, and seventh-round tackle Ethan Onianwa was apparently one of the big winners of the session as he continues his climb up the depth chart.

According to a training camp report from Falcons beat reporter Will McFadden, Onianwa had a rep where he took on James Pearce Jr.--and managed to hold his own, using his 6-foot-6, 333-pound frame to slow Atlanta's leading sack artist down.

"Rookie offensive tackle Ethan Onianwa impressively held his ground against James Pearce Jr. and used his size to slow him down," McFadden wrote.

Keelan Marion with one of the plays of the day

There were high hopes for the Falcons' undrafted receivers, but they haven't done much to stand out this summer. Vinny Anthony has had the brightest moments of the three, but instead it was Keelan Marion who had one of the best plays of Friday's practice--and it wasn't in the return game.

Like I mentioned earlier, Marion connected with Penix on a touchdown in 7-on-7s where he made a nice sliding catch during a red-zone rep. And considering this is a guy who is facing an uphill battle to make the roster, this is good momentum now that the preseason is looming.

The day of Kendal Daniels

For the better part of the last couple days, Harold Perkins Jr. has been getting a lot of the buzz during Falcons camp. He got a lot of the first-team reps at LB2 and has started to move around the formation, but fourth-round rookie Kendal Daniels is the LB who had the better day on Friday.

Flick reported that Daniels saw "extensive" snaps next to Divine Deablo with the starting defense, and while he's received first-team snaps before, this was one of the first days where he saw extended action with him--especially since he saw more starting action than Perkins did.

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