Fast start, slow finish: What we learned from Falcons’ second joint practice

Tagovailoa, first-team offense bounce back

Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s final stat line won’t impress — he went 7-for-14 passing in 11-on-11 and 1-for-3 passing in 7-on-7 — but he had a strong day.

Tagovailoa tossed three touchdown passes, two to receiver Drake London and one to receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, during red-zone periods.

His first to London came on a well-placed ball to the left pylon, and the other was a tight-window ball over the middle that London snagged and muscled into the end zone. Zaccheaus made a nifty one-handed grab on a short throw over the middle and raced the final five yards into the end zone.

All told, Tagovailoa went 4-for-7 passing in the red zone with three scores. His two-minute drive to end the practice began with three completions and steady movement, but he tossed four consecutive incompletions, including a pair of throwaways, to close a scoreless drive.

Tagovailoa’s command, accuracy and general red-zone success made Thursday a much-needed step forward after a disappointing Wednesday, during which he went 8-for-13 passing but lacked explosiveness and struggled moving the offense downfield.

Offensive line takes a step

The Falcons’ offensive line followed a similar path. Coach Kevin Stefanski said before Thursday’s practice the unit’s protection needed to “clean up in a lot of areas,” and improving from a technical standpoint was a focus in the session.

After a rocky one-on-one period against the Colts’ defensive line, the Falcons’ first-team offensive line held up much better Thursday. They gave Tagovailoa time to click through reads and didn’t allow an obvious sack.

Rushing success is difficult to judge in a practice setting, but none of running back Bijan Robinson’s four carries went backward, a stat alone that marks improvement from Wednesday.

The Falcons entered Thursday with their starting offensive line — left tackle Jake Matthews, left guard Matthew Bergeron, center Ryan Neuzil, right guard Chris Lindstrom and right tackle Jawaan Taylor — having played only one 11-on-11 drive together the entire offseason, and it came Wednesday.

The group played extensively together Thursday. Swing tackle Michael Jerrell took first-team snaps at right tackle during the two-minute drive as Taylor’s ramp-up period continued, but all told, the starting unit shined.

Penix ultra aggressive, has call scheduled Thursday night

There’s a chance Thursday’s practice was Michael Penix Jr.’s last before receiving clearance for 11-on-11 work. Penix said after the session he has a phone call scheduled with his doctor Thursday night, during which he hopes to be fully cleared moving forward.

Penix had an up-and-down 7-on-7 period Thursday. He went 2-for-5 passing with an interception to Colts linebacker Jaylon Carlies, though he also threw a touchdown to Robinson on a wheel route down the left sideline. Of Penix’s five attempts in a red-zone period, three traveled 20 yards and went to the left corner of the end zone.

Across two days of practices, Penix finished 8-for-14 passing. But the bigger story is what sits ahead, and whether he’ll be cleared for 11-on-11 when the Falcons return to practice next week.

Defense flashes, Colts offense wins two-minute drill

The Falcons’ defense held serve against the Colts’ offense in red-zone periods, and their run defense remained strong after a promising session Wednesday.

The Colts, however, won both two-minute drives with field goals. Their starting offense benefited from a questionable defensive pass interference penalty on Falcons corner A.J. Woods, while their second unit — led by Anthony Richardson — steadily marched downfield against the Falcons’ backup defense.

Perhaps symbolic of the day at large, the Falcons started well but ended with a thud.

Depth chart notes

The Falcons operated without receiver Jahan Dotson, who dressed and participated in individual warmups but didn’t take the field in any team periods for an undisclosed reason. In his place, Chris Blair saw an uptick in first-team snaps.

Zaccheaus moved to the perimeter during the two-minute drive to allow rookie Zachariah Branch to see the field in the slot, and when Zaccheaus tapped out, Dylan Drummond took his place with the starters.

On the Falcons’ second-team offensive line — noteworthy for roster cutdown day — Brandon Walton, who took first-team snaps at right tackle during the first week of training camp, received work at right guard for the first time this summer. Jerrell served as the left tackle and rookie Ethan Onianwa took snaps at right tackle.

Wanya Morris, who the Falcons acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs this summer, didn’t get any team snaps Thursday.

Defensively, Woods took a bulk of the first-team snaps at nickel, a marginal surprise after Darnay Holmes dominated the rep count in recent practices. The Falcons’ rookie linebackers, Harold Perkins Jr. and Kendal Daniels, took all the snaps with the starting defense in the two-minute period.

Injury news: London back, Terrell still out

Defensive tackle LaCale London, who’s missed much of the past two weeks with an undisclosed injury, dressed and warmed up for the first time Thursday.

Rookie cornerback Avieon Terrell watched from the sideline, as did defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand. Safety Jessie Bates III participated in individual periods but didn’t play any snaps in the team sessions.

What’s next

The Falcons face the Colts at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Lucas Oil Stadium for their second exhibition game. Quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Jack Strand will split halves under center, Stefanski said, while the vast majority of the team’s starters won’t play.

“This will be the twos and threes, if you will,” Stefanski said. “It’s how [Colts coach] Shane [Steichen] structured the reps in these practices, to make sure the ones are getting the majority of the reps, so then this is really their game, if you will, and then the twos and threes will play the game.”