Friday night was the first time for many Falcons fans to see quarterback Kirk Cousins sling it around in his new home stadium.
As the Falcons ventured down from Flowery Branch to practice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Cousins again looked the part of the team’s new franchise quarterback. In 11-on-11 work, he was 17 for 20, including an arcing pinpoint pass to wide receiver Drake London down the sideline for a 35-yard gain.
A much smaller subset of the few thousand fans in attendance came to put eyes on the team’s fifth-round draft pick. J.D. Bertrand’s football career has provided his parents with no shortage of highlights – including two state championships at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell and two-time captaincy at Notre Dame. Jim Bertrand called it a “wild journey.” Friday brought another milestone, as their son has come back home to start his first job out of college.
“It was fantastic,” Jim Bertrand said of watching his son take the field at MBS. “Surreal.”
After the practice, the Bertrands visited on the field and took pictures.
“Just unbelievable,” Christine Bertrand said of her son getting drafted by the Falcons. “You don’t ever think that it’s going to be in your local town. It’s just amazing.”
Underneath the massive halo video board, the son was feeling something, too. The Falcons did have an offseason workout at Mercedes-Benz earlier this year. But prior to that, Bertrand last ran across its artificial turf in 2018, leading Blessed Trinity to the Class 4A state title over Cartersville for the Titans’ second consecutive championship.
“It really does feel like home when I walk out there,” Bertrand told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was pretty cool to see people when I’m signing autographs, like, ‘Oh, we went to Blessed Trinity camp.’ ‘We go to Roswell.’ ‘We live down the street from you.’ It’s just an exciting time, especially with the new culture, new team, new coaches and Kirk, so it’s really exciting.”
Coach Raheem Morris was ecstatic when the Falcons were able to select Bertrand with the 143rd overall pick. After the draft, general manager Terry Fontenot raved about his instincts and character, which were enough to outweigh some average physical measurables.
Morris referred to him as “Captain America,” a nickname presumably stemming from the combination of his exploits on the field, his academic accomplishments at Notre Dame and his earning the rank of Eagle Scout while at Blessed Trinity.
“We don’t call him that,” Jim Bertrand said. “We call him J.D. or James David when mom’s mad.”
In the first days of training camp, he has held his own, earning snaps with the second-team defense. That has often meant going up against the first-string offense. Bertrand found the opportunity “really cool” and confidence building.
“I’ve gotten some ‘good jobs’ from some of those guys and I feel like I’ve been making plays, and so just need to keep them coming,” he said.
While it probably didn’t seem like it at the time at Notre Dame, having three defensive coordinators in his Fighting Irish career apparently has benefits.
“I’ve seen a lot of different defenses,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been able to pick it up a lot faster. But there’s always so much to learn.”
Bertrand gave a nod to Falcons inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud, who played eight NFL seasons before coaching for five years at his alma mater Nebraska.
“He can talk through his eyes of what he’s seeing from basically a player perspective, and so it’s really cool to be able to get that kind of perspective from a coach,” Bertrand said.
The rookie showed something Friday, shooting through the pocket on a pass play to reach quarterback Michael Penix Jr. It was precisely the sort of play that speaks to what the Falcons saw in him at Notre Dame – an ability to anticipate and react quickly.
“I knew I was going to be one-on-one with a (running) back, and the back, he was coming to me from left to right, and so I was going to use his momentum against him and I swam against him and got on the edge, chased Mike down,” Bertrand said.
On a similar play later on, Bertrand employed a counter move. Anticipating that the back was going to brace for another quick pass-rush move, Bertrand bulled right into him.
Bertrand’s playmaking was all the more impressive given that, at this point in training camp, it’s typical for rookies to be moving slowly, still thinking through their assignments.
“So this is our third day with pads,” Bertrand said. “I think the past two practices with pads, I’ve really been able to kind of come alive and make some plays. I think the coolest part about it is for me, looking back on film, there’s so many more I can make.”
There’s a long, long way to go for Bertrand. For one thing, he has three solid veterans – Kaden Elliss, Troy Andersen and Nate Landman – ahead of him. But it’s plausible, maybe even likely, that Bertrand will earn a spot on special teams.
He has already earned some credibility with a PowerPoint presentation that he gave to the team. The linebacker group, as it turns out, has a taste for conspiracy theories, which has spread through the locker room. As a form of rookie initiation, Bertrand was charged with giving a talk on one.
“J.D. Bertrand did a phenomenal job,” Cousins said earlier this week. “Phenomenal. I don’t even know if I want to go there publicly. But it was a phenomenal PowerPoint, and I have got to give a rookie credit where credit is due.”
Cousins wouldn’t divulge the specific theory. Nor, unfortunately, would Bertrand.
“I was going for facts, but going for laughs more so than anything,” Bertrand said. “So it definitely took some time. They have me prepping for another one before the season starts, and I told ‘em I need some time because you actually have to research them pretty well and then see, ‘Alright, how am I going to get laughs?’”
Given this bent, it’s easy to understand why he flourished academically at Notre Dame, earning a bachelor’s in business administration and then starting on a master’s in business analytics. He was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, known as the academic Heisman.
It has made the rigors of training camp, where it’s football 24/7, seem like a welcome change.
With classes and schoolwork demanding time and energy on top of football, “they’re pretty long days, but Notre Dame definitely prepares you,” Bertrand said. “I think that’s why you see so many Notre Dame guys in the league today.”
Next week brings joint practices with the Miami Dolphins and more tests to prove himself. The Falcons will play their only preseason home game Aug. 23 against Jacksonville. They open the regular season Sept. 8 at home against Pittsburgh.
“I had some emotions definitely coming to me,” Bertrand said of Friday night. “I’m sure once that first game day hits, I’ll have a lot more.”
Count on Jim and Christine Bertrand being in the stands.
Said Christine, “We can take MARTA.”
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