Matt Ryan is eager to regain his MVP form with the Atlanta Falcons.
It sure seems possible with Julio Jones in camp
C.J. Mosley Jersey , first-round pick Calvin Ridley ready to make an impact and – perhaps most important – a full season in the books with offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
While Ryan put up his seventh straight year with more than 4,000 yards through the air, he didn’t come close to matching the best season of his career under previous coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
In 2017, Ryan’s yardage dipped significantly (4,944 to 4,095). So did his TDs (38 to 20) and quarterback rating (117.1 to 91.4). His interceptions went up (7 to 12).
Most tellingly, the Falcons went from leading the league in scoring (33.75 points per game) to a middle-of-the-pack 15th position (22.06). Coming off an MVP season, Ryan wasn’t even in the conversation for the league’s top player.
The slide in production had some people wondering if head coach Dan Quinn would give Sarkisian another chance .
But Quinn was mindful that Shanahan’s first season in Atlanta also was a bit of a struggle. He found his groove in 2016, overseeing a dynamic offense that helped carry the Falcons all the way to the Super Bowl and earn Shanahan his first head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers.
”I’ve got a lot of confidence,” Ryan said of Year 2 with Sarkisian. ”Obviously, I think Sark is a lot more comfortable with the personnel, knowing what guys to use in certain situations. I think that just comes with experience. We all kind of have a feel for his flavor as well. I think he did a great job for us last year and will continue to do a great job this year.”
Quinn is certainly expecting a more comfortable relationship between Ryan and Sarkisian. For good measure, the Falcons also hired Greg Knapp, a former Atlanta offensive coordinator, to serve as quarterbacks coach.
”Like most relationships, there’s probably some situations that you need to go through together,” Quinn said. ”OK
Karl Joseph Jersey , how did that person respond? How did he get through it? Generally as it goes, the communication improves.”
For a while, it looked as though Ryan might have to make do without one of the league’s top receivers .
Unhappy with his contract, Jones skipped offseason workouts in Atlanta as well as a mandatory minicamp. But on the eve of training camp, he agreed to report after the Falcons figured out a way to give him a bit more money this season, along with a promise to negotiate a new deal in 2019.
No one was more pleased than Ryan to have No. 11 on the receiving end of his throws.
”He’s the best teammate you could ask for,” Ryan said. ”He’s just a great worker and such a good teacher for the young guys, too.”
Jones is already spreading his knowledge to Ridley , who is expected to take over the third receiver role filled so ably the past two years by Taylor Gabriel.
Ryan is impressed by what he’s seen so far from the rookie.
”He’s a talented player who can do a lot of different things,” Ryan said. ”Certainly through the offseason and through the first couple of days of camp, he showcased his talent level. I kind of see him having a really good year for us and really fitting in with the receiving corps that we have.”
Ryan certainly has no complaints about his contract. He expects to remain with the Falcons for the rest of his career after signing a new five-year, $150 million deal, the most lucrative in NFL history and the first with $100 million in guaranteed earnings.
To justify all that money, Ryan is focused on being more efficient in the red zone. Far too many times last season, the Falcons settled for field goals instead of touchdowns after driving inside the 20-yard line.
In the early days of training camp, the team already looks much crisper in those situations.
”A point of emphasis for us is improving in the red area, so we can have more touchdowns than we did last year
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With Jones, Ridley and Mohammad Sanu catching passes, an offensive line bolstered by the signing of free-agent guard Brandon Fusco, and a dynamic backfield duo of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, Ryan certainly has plenty of options at his disposal.
Enough to play like an MVP.
”We’ve got a really, really scary offense,” Freeman said.
Notes: The Falcons agreed to terms with OL Kendall Calhoun, LB Jonathan Celestin and WR Colby Pearson. All three players were undrafted out of college. To make room on the roster, team has waived S Jason Hall, DB Terrance Parks and FB Daniel Marx. … Quinn split up his players Monday’s practice, essentially creating two teams roughly the size of a regular-season roster, even putting offensive line coach Chris Morgan and defensive coach Jerome Henderson in charge of the squads. ”We wanted to create some game-like, stressful situations to really evaluate the players in that environment,” Quinn said.
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Derrick Johnson has been the enemy in Oakland for 13 years, tormenting the Raiders while wearing red for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Johnson has traded sides in the fierce AFC West rivalry, joining the Raiders as the veteran anchor at middle linebacker in a defense that is being rebuilt this offseason.
”It was different
Reggie White Jersey , I don’t want to say weird, but it’s different to put on the silver and black – even shirt – because we haven’t put on jerseys and helmets and all of that stuff yet,” Johnson said Wednesday. ”Even to put on the shirt, it was different for me. But you know what, when we got in the middle of the field, when you talk ball and you start running around, tossing the football around and calling plays and going over backs, I’m very familiar to that. So, that went out of my mind really fast.”
Johnson has been one of the better linebackers in the league during his career but was allowed to leave Kansas City earlier this offseason as the team tried to get younger. The 35-year-old Johnson is a four-time Pro Bowler and the career tackles leader for the Chiefs.
He had options about where to play this year but ultimately opted to join the Raiders, where he will take over the spot at middle linebacker that NaVorro Bowman held after joining Oakland midway through last season.
Johnson said the enthusiasm of coach Jon Gruden and the linebacker-friendly scheme of coordinator Paul Guenther were what made his decision to sign with the Raiders.
”The main reason I’m still playing ball and chasing a championship ring just because I believe I have a lot left in the tank,” he said. ”That’s the only reason I’m back. When I get to a point where I’m like, man, I’m hanging on, I’ll get out, I’ll get out of the NFL. But right now, and I expressed this to Coach Gruden, I wasn’t interested in some type of rebuilding atmosphere. As soon as I said that
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Johnson has appeared in 182 games with 169 starts since being drafted in the first round in 2005. He piled up 1,262 tackles to easily shatter the Chiefs franchise record, had 27 sacks and picked off 14 passes, returning four of them for touchdowns.
He had a career-best 179 tackles in 2011, when he was voted the Chiefs’ team MVP.
Johnson accumulated his impressive stats despite missing part of two seasons with ruptured Achilles tendons. He returned from the first one as good as ever, earning his most recent Pro Bowl trip in 2015, but the second seemed to finally take a step out of his legs last season.
Johnson said he feels much healthier now than he did at this time a year ago.
”This offseason I was working out and I was like, man, it’s a lot different from last year coming off an injury,” he said. ”My burst is back, it’s better than ever and it’s a good feeling because it’s going to help me make plays, it’s going to help me be explosive, and the longer you’re out from your season-ending injury, it usually gets better and it helps you out mentally. This will be my second season out from my last Achilles injury. I was healthy last year. I’m even better this year because I got a really good offseason training that I really didn’t get to do last year because I was coming off of the injury.”
The Raiders need an anchor in the middle of their defense. Bowman fared well in that role after being signed last October following his release by San Francisco. There was interest in bringing him back for a second season but the two sides couldn’t agree on a price.
Oakland didn’t address that need at linebacker in this year’s draft until the sixth round with the pick of Washington linebacker Azeem Victor.
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