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Marc Raimondi
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons‘ offensive and defensive models acquired into a number of skirmishes Sunday throughout apply, together with two involving rookie edge rusher James Pearce Jr.
On one collection with the workforce’s first-team offense going up in opposition to the second-team protection, Pearce acquired into it with left guard Matthew Bergeron, whose helmet got here off. There was pushing and shoving between a number of gamers on each models, and edge rusher Leonard Floyd got here to Pearce’s protection.
Only one play later, tensions rose once more. Pearce acquired into it with proper sort out Kaleb McGary, who was screaming at Pearce along with his helmet off. As soon as once more, Floyd got here in to attempt to separate issues with extra pushing and shoving throughout.
“We’re attempting to develop a tradition, a mode of play for certain, and a part of that’s the violence with which we play and aggression, the urgency and all that,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich stated. “At present, at occasions, it went just a little too far and we have got to learn to handle that.
“You are going to get agitated and, particularly once you’re enjoying actually good protection, the offense goes to get very agitated, so you have to anticipate punches being thrown, issues being stated, folks getting pushed. In these moments, you bought to thrive and never retaliate and so it is a good lesson to be discovered in the present day.”
The important thing, Ulbrich stated, is to cease earlier than punches are thrown. And there have been a few of these Sunday within the huge scrums.
Ulbrich stated it will be a significant studying expertise for Pearce, who has been enjoying extraordinarily onerous from the soar in apply and appears to have a chip on his shoulder.
“He is prideful because it will get,” Ulbrich stated. “He loves this recreation. He is acquired deep love for his teammates … and he needs to come back out right here and create a robust impression on all people — and himself included — that he can do that. And also you do that at a excessive degree, and I feel once you’re in that place of simply each ounce of your physique’s attempting to show who you might be, typically it will get to that place the place it may well get just a little wacky typically.
“His anger acquired the perfect of him just a little bit and it will be an amazing studying expertise for him.”
Ulbrich stated what he favored concerning the scuffles is how Floyd got here to the help of his teammate and that Pearce had a number of good performs after them. Pearce later batted down a Kirk Cousins cross, and Cousins even complimented him on the sector after apply for the play.
Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford stated these coaching camp practices are like “off-roading in a pleasant truck.” You wish to put the pedal to the steel as a lot as you may — however not a lot {that a} collision occurs.
“Yeah, we had a few crashes in the present day,” Ledford stated. “However the factor about these guys — I do know this, I understand how our locker room, the tradition that we have now right here on this locker room — these guys, they’ll shake it up. They know they acquired to get to work collectively and it may take each of us. It is form of like what we stated, man, if either side of the ball are enjoying onerous like that, it is simply going to make us on either side that significantly better.”