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The Atlanta Falcons were caught out last year in the linebacker room after an injury to Divine Deablo. In the veteran's absence, Atlanta didn't win a single game. This year? So far so good, and that's thanks to the injection of youthful talent in its pair of Day 3 rookie draft picks Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. Joe Patrick shares what Jeff Ulbrich had to say about the duo that has quickly re-solidified a once shallow room.
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00:00Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of Joe Patrick on football.
00:03As you can see here up in Flowery Branch, the Falcons gear up for what is shaping up to be
00:07a pretty,
00:08I think it's going to be a pretty intense game against the Tampa Bucs down in Tampa this Sunday.
00:13Mainly because it feels like a do or die for Tampa.
00:17Not that we really care all that much about Tampa's situation coming into it,
00:21but I only say it to say that I think the Falcons will have to be ready for a team
00:25that feels like they have their backs up against the wall,
00:27which is exactly how Falcons players have explained how they were feeling
00:31against the San Francisco 49ers last week and kind of felt like their season was on the line there
00:38and that they needed to get in the win column in order to keep their goals in front of them.
00:42And I'm sure that Tampa feels the same way, if not maybe even more dire situation there
00:47with their record being a game worse at this point and with this being a divisional game.
00:52So obviously a very important one as it always is,
00:54and the Falcons will just hope to kind of keep the recent history in Tampa rolling
00:58as we'll talk about a little bit later.
00:59But it should be a bit of a homecoming for Michael Penix, by the way.
01:02You know, going back to Florida, Dade City, which is where he's from in Florida,
01:05is a little bit close to Tampa.
01:07It's not Dade County.
01:08Dade County is like down in the Miami area.
01:11Dade City is just a small town in the more central area of Florida.
01:15And from what I hear, well, he told us yesterday he didn't really grow up a Buccaneers fan.
01:21And I would just also say that when we've talked to him about these types of things over the years,
01:26he doesn't really sound like he was like a big sports fan growing up in terms of being like a
01:31watcher.
01:31Like I can't remember, I don't think he had like a favorite team necessarily in a lot of these.
01:36If he did, he certainly kept it on the down low.
01:39But I really think that he's telling the truth in that he was just kind of more like outside playing
01:43the sport.
01:44And that's probably why he ended up being a professional.
01:46I know that like Drake London was somewhat similar.
01:50I remember in like one of his first press conferences that he ever did as a Falcon,
01:54he was kind of asked about, I think he was asked about like playing Madden.
01:58He was like, I didn't play Madden.
01:59I went outside and played football with my friends.
02:03And so I kind of gather that's kind of what more Penix's style was like as a kid as well.
02:07But still, it sounds like Dade City is basically like a little Falcons country in the middle of Florida there
02:13based on just Mike's exploits as a pro and how attached everybody in that town and that community is to
02:19him.
02:19So yeah, should be an interesting game.
02:22And obviously the coordinators spoke today.
02:25Before we get into what they talked about, I did want to just ask you, please,
02:28to like the episode of Joe Patrick on football.
02:31It would mean a lot to me.
02:32I would really appreciate it.
02:33And also give 92.9 The Game a follow as well if you're not doing that already.
02:36Although I'm sure if you're a Falcons fan and you're watching this show, you probably are following.
02:39So if you are, thank you very much.
02:41A lot of Falcons content that will be coming all the time, basically,
02:46because we know that that's what everybody wants.
02:48But anyway, let's get into what the coaches said today.
02:50I want to ask Jeff Ulbrich about Harold Perkins because Perk, I saw a chart this week
02:56that was among all NFL linebackers and the average separation that's being created against these linebackers.
03:04And, you know, again, like chart season, I can't remember exactly what the axes were.
03:08But Harold Perkins was in the far right, top right corner of this chart,
03:13basically meaning in this chart that he was the best coverage linebacker in the NFL,
03:17at least as it relates to, like, being able to individually guard a guy
03:22and not let that guy get away from you.
03:24And that's basically what Jeff Ulbrich, you know,
03:28basically intimated that he's not really surprised by that, but also,
03:32and I kind of ask if he's surprised that Perk has been able to show his skills in this area
03:40so soon in his NFL career, especially given the way his LSU career went,
03:45where he was kind of thought of as potentially like a pass rusher,
03:48a small edge as what he could potentially be coming up to the pros.
03:52But the way that Ulbrich described it, you know, he just said, like,
03:55when they worked him out, when they saw him at the combine,
03:57they just liked the way that he moved.
04:00And they felt like they were going to be able to, you know,
04:03use those skills at this level.
04:05And so far, so that Ulbrich said straight up, he's like, yeah,
04:10we went into the San Francisco game and basically said that, like, you know,
04:14Perkins was going to be matched up man-on-man against Christian McCaffrey.
04:18That was like, that was his role for the game.
04:22And I asked Perkins, like, that's a big role to give any rookie,
04:27not that, you know, I don't think the coaches really care that much
04:29whether you were like a sixth rounder or a second rounder,
04:31but, you know, the round in which you were selected does say something about
04:34your level of skill and therefore how well you'll be able to adapt to the next level.
04:39And Harold Perkins was actually taken after Anterio Thompson in that sixth round,
04:43like kind of toward the end of the sixth round, I think the 215th pick overall.
04:47But Brick has just had a lot of faith in Harold Perkins.
04:50I think he's a linebacker that he's really kind of had his eyes on as a player
04:55who could, you know, potentially be, I don't want to make the comparison
05:01to necessarily to Caden Ellis, but only in the sense that, like,
05:04he is a player that doesn't necessarily have this very defined linebacker position
05:09in his background.
05:10Caden Ellis didn't really have that either coming into the pros.
05:13But Brick was able to see a way in which Harold Perkins was really going to be able
05:17to help this football team, and we're certainly seeing that with his ability
05:20to guard some of these guys that he's been guarding.
05:24And it's not just McCaffrey.
05:26I mean, if you can guard McCaffrey, you can pretty much guard anybody,
05:28and that's exactly what we saw in the game.
05:29Now, he's not necessarily making PBUs, but he's right there in his grill.
05:33You know, he's right there making quick tackles, not allowing a lot of yak.
05:36And so that's ultimately what the coaches want from him.
05:41And so it's really, I think, just a testament to what he's done,
05:44that Ulbricht was willing to give him that role.
05:48And I asked if it, like, requires a level of faith in you as a coach
05:52to be able to give a player like that that kind of role.
05:55And, like, Ulbricht was like, you could say that, but it's not really faith
06:02because I've literally seen it over and over again here on the practice field
06:05where we also have a very hard-to-guard back that can catch the football
06:11that he's been going up against.
06:13So to go up against a guy like Bajon Robinson has obviously been a huge help,
06:18I think, in the training and development for Harold Perkins.
06:22And when you just combine all of that about Perk on top of obviously
06:26what the Kendall Daniels story has been for these last couple weeks,
06:30it's really remarkable what the Falcons have here and their rookie linebackers.
06:34And it brings me back to something that these guys have talked about
06:38of Matt Ryan telling them in that kind of rookie symposium
06:42or the rookie introduction in saying, don't come in here thinking
06:46that you're just going to be able to, like, essentially redshirt this year
06:49and that you're not going to play much in your rookie year
06:50because you've got veterans ahead of you.
06:52Even if you do have veterans ahead of you in, like, you know, in the room or whatever,
06:57don't go out there and, like, assume that, like, they're just going to play over you.
07:00Like, we need you to perform.
07:02And I think the linebacking room speaks to that perfectly
07:06because you do have veterans in that room who some of these rookies are playing over,
07:10especially that guy like Christian Harris who was brought in here where, you know, myself
07:13and I think a lot of people thought that he was kind of brought in
07:16to essentially be the guy who would probably start for this team.
07:20And you hoped that guys like Daniels and Perkins would be able to stake their claim
07:25to that spot over time.
07:27I just didn't think it would happen this soon and the players would be this effective.
07:32And by the way, on Daniels, I want to say I feel like one of the things
07:35that's gone under-discussed about his big day against San Francisco
07:39and obviously the big play that he had that kind of sealed the game there at the end,
07:42that interception, was just the quality of that interception that he made.
07:46Because I feel like a lot of the story has been about him making the interception
07:49and then obviously everything that had happened the week prior,
07:52him being able to come back from that and then have that moment.
07:55But I think it's worth kind of going back and just looking at,
07:58watch that play and watch exactly what Daniels does during that play.
08:02It is literally, like, we talked about, like, Madden comparisons last week
08:06in one of the episodes, but that is, like, something you would do in Madden
08:09if you're, like, usering a linebacker, you, like, kind of go up and engage
08:13an offensive lineman and kind of deceive the quarterback
08:16into thinking that you are rushing and then you drop off.
08:18And then he's obviously able to use his frame and his skills
08:21that he developed as a safety in college, Kendall Daniels.
08:24So you're just seeing, like, a lot of these theoretical ideas
08:30of what these players could be actually kind of come into focus
08:33and really turn these players into productive players
08:38on the field for the team.
08:40Ulbrich, I also enjoyed what he said about C.J. Henderson
08:42kind of growing into and working hard, just really praised his work ethic.
08:49In fact, he talked about when the Falcons signed him to the practice squad
08:53last year, like November, he said it was like 10 o'clock at night
08:56and he looks out there and he sees C.J. working on a bike, you know,
09:01just, like, by himself, just grinding, trying to get better
09:04and says that he is kind of regaining some of that feeling of
09:10and the confidence that you have as a player when he was, you know,
09:13a top 10 pick overall in a draft and then obviously his career
09:17doesn't really turn out the way that he would have hoped from that point
09:19but it does feel like he's starting to kind of regain that feeling
09:22of being that level of player for this team
09:25and so that's obviously a huge boost for this Falcons team
09:28to have a player like him.
09:29It's just a little bit unfortunate that, you know,
09:32he's also a boundary corner along with A.J. Terrell
09:35and, you know, A.J., it was nice to have a player like C.J.
09:38when A.J. was hurt but then C.J. also gets hurt
09:41and they both kind of come back at the same time.
09:43So C.J. still was able to obviously get plenty of run
09:46playing in that field corner position against San Francisco
09:48but Avion Terrell missed that game with an illness.
09:51Don't expect Avion Terrell to miss another game
09:53or at least his coming game against Tampa.
09:55So it will be very interesting to see what some of those alignments,
10:00rotations, and starting lineups look like against Tampa.
10:03So some interesting stuff there.
10:06Also interesting was Tommy Reese talking today.
10:08He was talking about, it was kind of funny,
10:10somebody mentioned, what do you think about the cameras in the coordinator's booth?
10:16Because obviously he's been caught on camera several times,
10:19not just with the Falcons.
10:21Obviously there was that one going around from Notre Dame
10:23where he's telling the quarterback to do his bleeping job,
10:26which was great.
10:27And the players I know have had some fun with him on that one.
10:30But then he was also, he's been on the camera a couple times getting upset.
10:34And, you know, the thing that I've noticed about it is that fans,
10:38you guys watching this probably enjoy that kind of thing coming from the O.C.
10:41Even if it's, you don't always want to see the O.C. pissed off.
10:45It usually means something bad happened on the field.
10:46And in this most recent case, I think it was a penalty the Falcons had
10:49and delay a game that had him upset.
10:52But at least you like to see him looking upset about it, you know,
10:56and hopefully that driving a point home to some people,
11:00whether it's other coaches or players or whatever.
11:02But I think you like to see that emotion.
11:04And he said, he's like, you know, that's just the kind of person I am.
11:06You know, I'm going to get emotional like that at times.
11:09So, yeah, that was kind of a funny note.
11:12He did talk about the peanut punching too.
11:14I think Josh Kendall was kind of working on this angle for something
11:18because he was talking to Jeff Ulbrich about it as well,
11:20about the techniques and stuff and how that has kind of all developed.
11:24By the way, Ulbrich said that they brought Peanut Tillman in when he was in New York.
11:28When Ulbrich was in New York, they brought Peanut Tillman in to do like a clinic on it, basically,
11:32because they had some connections to Peanut.
11:35And that's where that comes from, by the way,
11:37that Peanut punch is from Peanut Tillman who kind of perfected it.
11:40And he was the first one that really started like actually punching, I felt like.
11:44For a while, you would get some like behind, like when tacklers come in behind
11:48and someone would kind of throw that arm around.
11:51But I felt like back in the day, the way that fumbles were forced were more like
11:55defenders would try to bring the arm on top of the ball and then rip it out.
11:59That was kind of like that ripping motion, not the punching motion,
12:02which seems to be a lot more effective nowadays.
12:04Obviously, Jesse Bates has been utilizing that to a great extent.
12:09And, you know, what Tommy said about this was interesting that, you know,
12:13Michael Petrie, the running backs coach, studies the game tape every single week
12:17of the opponent that's coming up to study the ways in which they punch
12:20because he said that there will be some subtle differences with the way that teams coach it
12:25and tendencies and how the punches kind of come in, whether it's certain angles,
12:29whether it's kind of coming in from the top or the bottom and he and Petrie goes
12:34through in detail, not just with the running backs, but anybody who's going to be
12:38catching the ball, he runs through his report with the players of what he saw
12:42in his study and what the players should be expecting when they have the ball
12:44in their hands.
12:45So I think that's like really solid preparation for the team.
12:49And it's great to see the coaches kind of working on that granular level like that.
12:53And then the other thing that Ree said that was kind of interesting caught my ear,
12:56especially after what we talked about yesterday with kind of the way that the
12:58quarterback room is developing and whether Tua Tagovailoa is going to be a part
13:02of that quarterback room for much longer.
13:04He did say that Tua has been great for the quarterback room in terms of the,
13:09you know, just the personality that he is.
13:12He's kind of that California cool type of character and just said he's been great
13:16for Mike and the relationship that he's developed with Penix and the relationship
13:21that Tommy and Tua have developed with each other.
13:24So good stuff there.
13:26Doesn't change my opinion on it.
13:29And I think that, you know, Tommy was saying true things.
13:32I don't think he was lying, you know, but I don't think that that's necessarily what
13:35he was talking about with Tua.
13:37I don't think there's something that necessarily keeps you on a team if there are other,
13:41you know, players that the team will need to kind of keep hold of.
13:44So we'll see how all that develops.
13:46But last thing is that, you know, Tommy kind of went on about Stefanski,
13:51who referred to himself as a caddy.
13:53And a caddy for Tommy basically has like the play caller and just how the offensive communication goes.
13:59And Tommy said what you would have thought about that situation,
14:02just basically agreeing with Kevin that he does a great job and gives him all the kind of both support,
14:09but also freedom to do his thing during games.
14:12And that it's basically all working very, very seamlessly.
14:15And on that note, there's also something, this idea that's come up.
14:19I've just been thinking about recently in these last couple of days.
14:22And it's because I feel like I'm just a big believer.
14:27I think Stefanski's done a great job here.
14:31I think that he runs his coaching staff extremely well.
14:37And, you know, obviously Stefanski is referred to as a CEO coach, right?
14:41Because he doesn't call the plays.
14:43And the thing I've been thinking about is I think that term gets a little bit misused
14:49because I think every coach is a CEO coach, or every coach has to be a CEO coach.
14:56And some are just better tacticians than they are CEOs.
14:59And I think, frankly, that's why we see some coaches like Raheem Morris, for example,
15:05and maybe even Arthur Smith.
15:07I'm not even as sold on like Arthur Smith in terms of the, well, all aspects.
15:12I just didn't really get enough sample of him.
15:14I only covered him for a couple of years.
15:15Well, I guess same with Raheem.
15:16But point being is that some coaches are kind of better on the tactical side.
15:20Some are better organizers.
15:22And just like that.
15:23And that's what I think of like a CEO.
15:24You're more just like managing a group of coaches.
15:28That includes your coordinators, which are calling the plays.
15:30And as the CEO, it's your job to know exactly what they're doing,
15:34to provide feedback for them, support for them, whatever they need.
15:38And you certainly need to know what's going on with the guys who are calling plays
15:42in terms of the scheme, et cetera, et cetera.
15:44But ultimately, at the end of the day, you've got to let them have the agency to be able
15:51to do their jobs, just like the players obviously need to have to have agency in doing their
15:55jobs as well.
15:56So I think this is just like something that I'm just rallying around in my brain is that
15:59every coach has to be a CEO to some extent.
16:02And I think the CEO is like, I don't even know if CEO is the right way to describe necessarily.
16:07I like to say like organizers.
16:09Are you organized?
16:10Do you give people a very clear idea of what they need to be doing?
16:15And is there like a good solid workflow, not only between coaches and yourself, yourself
16:21being the head coach, but coaches and coaches, you know, that have to work together in order
16:25to make things run properly.
16:26So I might expound on that a little bit later, but it's just something I've been thinking
16:30about, been covering this team.
16:32Should be an interesting game going up against Tampa Bay for the Falcons.
16:34They haven't lost there since 2022.
16:36The last time they lost there was the infamous Tom Brady roughing the passer call where Grady
16:41Jarrett cleanly sacked Tom Brady and they flagged the Falcons defensive lineman and didn't
16:47give the Falcons a chance to come back and potentially win that game.
16:50But ever since then, it's been all Falcons down there in Tampa.
16:52Um, and obviously Kyle Pitts has had a ton of success there as well.
16:57He caught in 2023, uh, the team needed a last minute drive.
17:00He catches a big pass, has a big catch and run in the last drive, uh, of that game from
17:05Desmond Ritter, no less.
17:06That was that game, which Ritter fumbled three times.
17:09Um, Pitts had a big catch there that set them up for the game winning field goal.
17:13Uh, what was it, in 2024, the next year, uh, Kirk has, uh, you know, big game, Kirk Cousins.
17:21Um, Bijan has that, that, that play where he like stops right on the goal line and goes
17:25forward, team scores a bunch of points in that game.
17:27And then obviously last year they had that game late in the season on Thursday night
17:31where their season was over.
17:32In fact, it had just ended and, uh, they go out there and have a really good performance.
17:36And Kyle Pitts scores three touchdowns, has a bunch of yards, and I'm sure he'll be hoping
17:40for that again.
17:41And I'm sure the Falcons will be hoping for him to do that again as well, because it probably
17:44means they're going to win.
17:45So, um, I know all you guys are going to hope, hoping they win as well.
17:48If they, if they do win, they're going to be in great shape at four and four, getting
17:53James Pierce Jr.
17:54Back and, you know, going, obviously it's going to be a tough game going on the road to
17:57play the Bengals in Madrid.
17:58But, um, you would absolutely, after having been two and four, you would absolutely take that.
18:02And it will give the team a really great platform again to do everything they want to do.
18:06And have all the success that they were planning on to having this season.
18:09So we'll see if it happens.
18:10Uh, you can tune in to the tailgate show where I'll be on with Andy Bunker from 9 to 11
18:14AM
18:14on 92.9 The Game.
18:16Uh, if not, if you can't catch us then, make sure you just tune in at some point to catch
18:20Wes and Dave on the call or the Falcons flyover postgame.
18:24There's Falcons coverage all day long Sunday on 92.9 The Game, including from us right here
18:29on Joe Patrick on Football.
18:30We'll have a video coming up to you guys after that one, giving some instant reaction to that.
18:34So stay tuned and until then, we'll see you guys next time.