BALTIMORE – New Falcons outside linebacker Matt Judon was with the team for the 13-12 loss to the Ravens on Saturday.
Before the game he spent time on the Ravens sideline, catching up with old teammates Marlon Humphrey and Mark Andrews. He played for the Ravens from 2016 to 2020.
The Falcons traded with New England to land Judon and then signed free agent safety Justin Simmons last week. The Falcons will start integrating the new players into the defense on Monday.
“We’ll never apologize for acquiring good players, when you get a chance,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “You’ve got a guy like (general manager Terry Fontenot), who is constantly churning the bottom of the roster, churning the top of the roster (and) churning the roster just in general.”
Judon, who’s 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds, has 66.5 career sacks and is expected to uplift the Falcons’ pass rush. He’s set to wear jersey No. 15.
Simmons, who’s 6-foot-2 and 202 pounds, has 30 career interceptions and with Jessie Bates III is expected to form one of the top safety tandems in the league.
“Don’t mess up good players, right?” Morris said. “The challenge for us is to get those guys going. Get them acclimated. Get them going the right way (and) make sure they are in the shape.”
Judon was in camp with the Patriots, while Simmons was not in camp. Morris plans to rely on the Falcons’ strength and conditioning coaches.
“Our performance team is going to definitely be all over that – making sure to find out where they are at, physically and mentally,” Morris said. “Do all of those things (to) get those guys caught up that way.”
The practice plan will include a lot of “jog-throughs” and “walk-throughs,” according to Morris.
“We’ll get a chance to watch them move around in individual (work and) get those guys going,” Morris said. “They’re at two different levels; one guy was in camp, (and) one guy was not. So, we’ll figure those guys out individually. We’ll do it the right way.”
Front office love: Morris lauded the front office for those moves.
“The elite communication that we’ve had in our building, I think it’s been awesome,” Morris said. “It’s been awesome with the guys within the building, the coaches within the building (and) our players; everybody is involved. Anything that needs to be talked about will be addressed openly, honestly (and) with clear communication.”
Morris said that having quarterback Kirk Cousins helps with recruiting players.
“Let’s just flat out say it,” Morris said. “When you’ve got a guy like Kirk Cousins leading the way, and you’ve got a chance to go do something special, which I believe we do, people want to come and be here.”
Washington’s homecoming: Falcons running back Carlos Washington, Jr., a native of Clinton, Maryland, rushed nine times for 39 yards (4.3 yards per carry) against the Ravens.
“We always want to establish the run,” Washington said. “Especially with this team. That’s one of our bread and butters, is the run game. Last week, we weren’t happy with that performance. This week we came out determined to make up for last week. Me personally, coming home, (I had) a little bit of jitters.”
He played at Riverdale Baptist High School in Upper Marlboro, Md. before playing in college at New Hampshire (2017-2021) and Southeast Louisiana (2022).
He was on the Falcons’ practice squad last season and signed to a reserves/futures contract in January.
“I haven’t played back home since like college,” Washington said. “It is always great to be back. I felt the love out there and I had a lot of fun.”
Turnover energy: Falcons’ rookie defensive tackle Brandon Dorlus had a fumble recovery in the first quarter.
“Little things like that, people think because it’s an (exhibition) season game, but little stuff like that, brings juice,” Dorlus said. “I was happy with my first fumble recovery. Just to see the sidelines going crazy. That was fun.”
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