FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons wide receivers coach T.J. Yates spoke to the media recently, including Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writer Gabe Burns.
Here’s what Yates had to say about his revamped position group, first-round pick Drake London and the mentality of the football team.
ON HIS BIG WIDE RECEIVERS: “The overall average height has definitely changed in the room a little bit. But we have a healthy mix of smaller guys, too. We have some big guys and guys who are real physical. There’s a lot of versatility in the (receivers meeting) room, a lot of competition in the room.”
ON HOW DOES THAT STRAIN THE OPPOSING DEFENSE: “It’s not so much about the height but just overall the physicality of the players. We play inside the numbers. Going inside the numbers, especially in this day and age, where the game is now, going over the middle you’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to be physical. You need guys with good ball skills. Guys who can catch and run. A lot of things that we look for in players, size and physicality, is one of those things that helps them.”
ON BRYAN EDWARDS: “He’s only been here a couple of days. He comes from a very similar system. So, mentally it’s been a quick pick-up for him, which has been good and refreshing. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s got strong hands. … I’ve only been around him for a few days now, but you know, he’s a hard worker. He’s come in and has really put in the time to catch up.”
ON EDWARDS’ TIME WITH QB MARCUS MARIOTA: “The rapport that they have had in the past, and that they continue to have out here on the field ... they made some plays (recently) in practice. They’ve been doing it for a while. It’s not a surprise that they were together last year (with Las Vegas). The more they can continue to talk and he can help Bryan and Bryan can help him, that will be better for everybody.”
ON DARREN WALLER’S COMMENT ABOUT EDWARDS BEING READY FOR AN EXPANDED ROLE: “I think so. When we did our due diligence, we thought this guy could be a really good player. I remember him a couple of years (ago) coming out of South Carolina. I kind of kept an eye on him throughout those years. I saw those same quotes that Darren said about Bryan, and we’re just hoping that he can come in and help elevate our room. Help us as a team be a better offense.”
ON THE OVERHAULING OF THE WR POSITION: “Well, it’s great. Obviously, people always talk about the height and the size, but we have a really good group of dudes. That is very refreshing for me going in my first year with them. The whole team and the wide receivers, they just work. Like we always talked about the answers are in the grass every single day. All those guys, across the board, all 12 of those guys, they come to work every day. … They elevate each other by creating competition within the receiver room.”
ON PLAYING AT POPE HIGH AND WORKING FOR THE FALCONS: “That’s pretty cool. I’ve known a lot of people in this profession, players and coaches, they don’t really get the opportunity to be home. My family, my wife’s family, we got our whole extended family right here in Atlanta. So I’m very blessed to be in the position I’m in and being the location that I’m in. Thanksgiving this last year was the first time our whole family has been together in 15 years. So, I’m really thankful for the opportunity to be here. It’s been awesome so far.”
ON TICKET REQUESTS: “Yeah, but it’s not too bad. My dad still offers to pay for his tickets. Even when I was a player. He always wrote me a check. I’d never cash it.”
ON HOW THE WRs CAN BE BETTER THAN LAST YEAR: “The brand of football that (coach) Arthur (Smith) brings here and what we are trying to preach is a big, physical mentality. Obviously, then the size of the receivers that we’ve got coming in here now (is) really going to help that. Even the guys that don’t have the height or the weight that these other guys have, they are tough individuals. That’s what we are trying to preach. You know, all across the board, whether it’s the run game, the pass game, being physical, strong after the catch, run after the catch, being able to go over the middle, take those hits. That’s just kind of what we’re trying to preach. The competition between all of those guys is helping breed that.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BLOCKING: “It’s huge, and especially the way the game that Arthur has brought to us, is obviously a heavy-run, a heavy play-pass game. The more that those guys can sell the blocking game and running game and how those match up, the better that we can be. That physicality doesn’t just come in the passing game, it comes in the running game as well.”
ON WHETHER DRAKE LONDON CAN PROVIDE THAT BLOCKING: “That was one of the things that drew us to him in the evaluation process was that he’s a physical, physical guy. Some times you see these guys that are basketball players that come out (and you think) they’re not going to be very physical. But when you see him on tape, you’ll see him take a DB in the run game and run him out of bounds or dump him (to the ground) in the run game. He’s physical in the pass game. Hopefully, that mentality will kind of go throughout the rest of the rookies.”
ON HOW GOOD LONDON CAN BE: “He can be very good. Mainly because of his versatility. He can go inside, and he can go outside. He’s got great ball skills. He’s got good size. He’s got enough speed to go over the top. I know that’s a thing that everybody has been questioning, but we feel that he has enough speed to do it all. He can be very versatile for us.”
ON BIGGER SLOT RECEIVERS: “The way we motion and how we move guys around, shift and formation and all of that stuff, the more versatility that all of our players can have (the better.) We talk about it all the time. It’s really position-less football. We will line up all of our players in different positions, whether it’s Kyle (Pitts), whether it’s Drake, whether it’s anybody. So, the more versatility they can have to go inside and outside, the better we’re going to be.”
MORE ON THE WRs ROOM: “It’s going great. Everybody talks about the size that we have now and how much different the room is now. I think one of the main things that’s been great so far is the kind of mentality they have. They come into work every single day. They lift each other up. They work for each other. They cheer each other on, but they also compete. The competition within the receiver room has been great so far. It’s really elevating everybody’s play.”
ON GETTING LONDON READY TO PLAY: “He’s a 20-year-old rookie. He’s going to have growing pains. It’s going to be a process for him just like any rookie. Just like it was for Kyle last year, who was also a 20-year-old rookie. These kids are getting younger and younger. Whether if it’s strength, whether if it’s any of the guys, we have to build them up through our program. Get them to buy into our ethos and our mentality here. Drake’s been great so far in that aspect. He’s a hard worker. He comes in every day. He’s got questions. He wants to be quizzed. He wants to work. He wants to run and do all these things. So, you know, aside from all the physical traits that he has, he’s got the right mentality to be good.”
ON THE LEADER IN THE ROOM: “Yeah, there are a couple of guys that are starting to step up. And throughout this process, it’ll start to kind of form, but you know, some of the veteran guys like Damiere Byrd, he’s been in our league for (six) years. He knows his teammates. He’s a great guy. There are a couple of guys who will start to step up more and more. But, in general, it’s a really good room across the board. They all have their healthy amount and how much they talk and how much they read. They worked really well together.”
ON IF LONDON CAME AS ADVERTISED: “We went and worked him out at (South Carolina). I unfortunately drew the straw to be able to throw to him. So, it was between me and (offensive coordinator Dave Ragone). When I threw to him during the workout, I basically saw and felt everything that I needed to see. He’s a big guy. He’s got unbelievable range. He plucks the ball with ease and transitions fast. You know, he’s got a lot of the traits that you see (in) a lot of these top receivers across the league and ones that I’ve played with in the past. So, he’s just confirmed that.”
ON IF HIS BASKETBALL SKILLS WILL HELP HIM: “Absolutely. Not only Drake, but a couple of other guys like (Auden) Tate and some of these other big guys. They’ve got basketball backgrounds. I think it does a whole lot for spatial awareness and for feel. Those guys (are) going to get it, going to get those rebounds, all that stuff. They’re used to playing with contact and playing within the space. So, I think that’s going to help us out not only in the red zone but all over the field.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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