FLOWERY BRANCH – Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke, with little practice reps, struggled in Miami during joint practices and exhibition game against the Dolphins Friday.
Heinicke is currently the third-string quarterback behind Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. Replacing Penix halfway through the second quarter, Heinicke had a tough night completing only 4 of 11 passes. There was a miscommunication on a play late in the second quarter, resulting in a fumble that led the Dolphins to score.
“Just sloppy all around,” Heinicke said Monday with the Falcons back at training camp. “It’s unacceptable.”
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said, “Tough night (for) Heinicke. Obviously (we were) going out there trying to run the football. He actually got hit – got a little pressure issue at the end when he got sacked. You want to get him settled down, get him a couple reps and get him a chance to go back out there next week.”
Heinicke, who started four games for the Falcons last season, makes no excuses based on Friday’s performance.
“It was just a bunch of things kind of combined,” Heinicke said. “I think each person kind of took a turn. Again, you know, you get limited reps in practice, but again it’s no excuse. These guys, they have experience, and just got to go out there and execute.”
In this offseason, Heinicke constantly looked to improve on himself by prioritizing footwork and consistency.
“Every offseason is always footwork and mechanics,” Heinicke said. “For a quarterback, I think if you have good footwork and good mechanics, everything else will take care of itself. ... There’s some times where my feet are too wide and that affects mechanics and see a flutter. So just being more consistent.”
Footwork has been a problem before.
“In years past, my feet got a little too far apart which invited the over stride, which invites the elbow dip-in, which invites the ball of sailing,” Heinicke said. “For me it’s really keeping that base more narrow, keeping my back foot under me, having my back foot point to where I can throw, that’s really what we focus on. And you know, I see that on film and I do, do that correctly. The ball comes out really well, so just trying to do that consistently.”
As a quarterback and having to tell certain player’s what to do, Heinicke values teamwork.
“You know if one person messes up, potentially messes up the whole play. So that’s the crazy thing about offenses. Everybody’s got to be in tune. Everybody’s got to do their job. Just have a chance for it to be right. So again, some young guys are in there, it’s their first time in the NFL, people are amped up ... it’s a different atmosphere.”
To his teammates, Heinicke is continually lifting up his teammates sand teaching them in any way he can.
“Taylor is my guy,” Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney said. “Since I was here last year, he kind of took me under his wing, just kind of taught me the offense and built great chemistry. I was on the practice squad last year, so he threw an awful ton with us last year. So we’ve kind of built a good connection. So the good thing is I have good chemistry with all the quarterbacks on the roster now with Taylor and Kirk Cousins and Mike.”
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