FLOWERY BRANCH — More moves are coming, but the Falcons cut to their initial 53-man roster Tuesday.
They held a closed practice Wednesday and an open one Thursday as they start to prepare for the season opener against the Steelers on Sept. 8 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“You have to put it on a different format nowadays because all of the new rules that have been put in place,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said of the roster and 16-member practice squad. “It’s the best 69 people that you keep on your roster.”
The Falcons activate 48 for the games, 49 if they keep a third quarterback. But the Falcons traded Taylor Heinicke to the Chargers for a seventh-round pick that could turn into a sixth-round pick based on playing time. They are looking to add a third quarterback.
“All of those things are a part of it,” Morris said. “Decisions are always made to keep the best people in place in order to find ways to win games, as best we can.”
The Falcons filled out their practice squad with 13 players who were in training camp with the team. The Falcons also added linebacker Monty Rice, a former third-round pick of the Titans who played at Georgia, and veteran left guard Elijah Wilkinson, who started nine games for the Falcons in 2022.
“We love Elijah,” right guard Chris Lindstrom said. “It so great seeing him come back in the building today. Just excited to have him back around.”
Wilkinson jumped right back in the drills.
“He knew exactly what he was doing,” Lindstrom said. “He never skipped a beat.”
The Falcons have an open spot and are looking to add an outside or inside linebacker.
“The hustle and bustle outside of the 90-man roster that we have already had is being done throughout the whole term of training camp,” Morris said “We’ve got all of these young scouts upstairs. They are just scurrying through rosters. They do such a great job of watching, evaluating tape and looking at it all.”
Morris noted that the front office spent some long hours at the office the past few days.
“Those guys had just as rough of time like we do with the draft, staying up here the last couple of days and really discussing and finding what best fits us,” Morris said. “I really respect the amount of work that our organization puts into the bottom and the top of our roster.”
The Falcons kept only five receivers on the 53-man roster. “We are going to go with five, and five will work,” Falcons wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard said.
The Falcons signed three wide receivers to the practice squad in Chris Blair, Jesse Matthews and Dylan Drummond. Blair was the team’s leading receiver during the exhibition season.
“Playmaker,” Hilliard said of Blair. “We like Chris a lot. Chris had a situation during the break, between OTAs and training camp, where we asked him to switch positions and do some different things for us, and he handled it very well.”
Casey Washington, a sixth-round draft pick, made the 53-man roster.
“The kid is built for the game, physically,” Hilliard said. “He has outstanding hand-to-eye coordination. He plays fast. He plays hard. He throws hands in the run game. Those are traits (that) we as staff covet.”
Morris knows the roster will evolve over the course of the season.
“You’re guaranteed 69 guys at the beginning of the season,” Morris said. “As we know, this game is historically, you lose people throughout. We talked about how many quarterbacks played last year alone. I think it was 66. … We talking quarterbacks. Just imagine the other positions as you got through attrition and people that are going to come back.”
Morris doesn’t like to call it the “practice squad.”
“I just call it the extension of our roster,” Morris said. “I’ve got so much respect for all of those guys. I feel really confident … of being to (promote) guys up and know exactly what roles they’ll be able to play for us right now.”
Linebackers Nate Landman (quad) and Kaden Elliss (groin) were back at practice during the open period Thursday.
“Injures happen,” Morris said. “You have to call people up. You have the tool to be able to flex people up, and that’s an extension of our roster, especially getting three flexes a person. So, you’ve got to make real decisions on if you are putting them on the 53 roster or not.”
Morris said that with roster basically set, he can move from evaluating to game-planning for the Steelers.
“I’m really more than satisfied,” Morris said. “You are really trying to upgrade at all times. It just keeps a subtle edge, that competitive edge around your team where everybody is competing. “
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