Falcons safety Keanu Neal, who has recovered from left knee surgery, returned to practice in the OTAs on Thursday.

“It was good to have Keanu back in there on the field today,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “He’s really worked hard. I’m proud of him and the effort that he put forth.”

Neal is being eased back into full practice.

“Lots of individual work,” Quinn said. “Lots of group work as the calls are going. He’ll do that before practice and after practice. More of just the return to play. The purpose was to get back in the group, and then when you start training camp, it’s not for the first time.”

The rugged Neal suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the season opener against the Eagles. He went down early in the game and went back in to try to play, but he couldn’t continue

“It’s going well,” Neal said recently. “It’s been a journey. I trust in the process. We are heading in the right direction.”

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