Falcons use rare walk-through to ‘get their sharpness right’

“Walk-through Wednesday didn’t start today because the Saints fired their coach,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “It was something that we planned. Something that we had an agenda to do. We want to prepare to give ourselves the best chance to win this week.”

Morris brought “walk-through Wednesday” with him from Los Angeles, where he was the Rams defensive coordinator for the past three seasons. Quarterback Kirk Cousins said that he had walk-through practices later in the season when he was at Washington under Mike Shanahan as a rookie back in 2012.

Morris cited information that he received from John Griffin, the Falcons’ director of player performance. He also named Josh Nelson (director of performance science), Erik Jernstrom (assistant director of strength and conditioning) and Paul Constantine (associate director of strength and conditioning) as part the decision.

“Everything we (do) is based on player performance,” Morris said. “They showed me a whole new light, a whole new collaboration, a whole new interest to be thoughtful in your approach to everything that you do.”'

The Falcons will not regularly walk-through on Wednesdays.

“It’s all player performance-based,” Morris said. “We’re going to go through our walk-through format (Wednesday). What we’ll use in a couple of these Wednesdays is a chance for guys to get out there and be ready mentally … get their sharpness right. Things of that nature. Ready to go out and perform and be the best version of ourselves against Saints.”

The Falcons considered a lot of performance data in making their decision.

“What you’ve done leading up to this point, Morris said. “How many games you’ve played in a row. Some of the stuff that goes into the amount of plays that you play within a game. The framework of the game. Where you are at as a team. Some of the measurements that comes off of our GPS testing and our tracking.”

There are other factors that were considered.

“Travel, some of the stuff according to being at home,” Morris said. “A couple of different things about going to different time zones. Things of that nature. There is all kinds of stuff that go into it ... for the most part, you have to listen to the information and make decisions based off those reasonings.”

Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson came with Morris from the Rams.

“Dating back to my first year in 2019 (in the NFL), I didn’t know that it was not allowed to not practice on a Wednesday,” Robinson said. “I thought you just had to be smashing heads all the time. So, to see the work that you can get done in those walk-through settings is cool. It’s just teaching on the grass.”

The players enjoyed the walk-through.

“It’s been well-received,” Cousins said. “I remember as a rookie, coach Shanahan, as the year went on, began to work walk-throughs in more often. As a college player ... I always thought more is more. To go full speed is the only way.”

Cousins said that Washington would be fresher in December and January in part because of the walk-throughs.

“Also, mentally, when you are going at a walk-through pace, you cover more plays in a short amount of time,” Cousins said. “The ability to talk through things and rep things, there is a lot of value there. It’s a tradeoff, certainly, there are benefits to going full-speed, as well, but you can’t get the volume done.”

Linebacker Troy Andersen, who said he expects to return from his knee injury to play this week, enjoyed the walk-though.

“I think it’s just dialing in mentally,” Andersen said. “There are a lot of guys on the team who have taking a lot of snaps. The mental side of the game is so important you can get a lot done just thinking through things. Not necessarily hitting and what not. It’s beneficial.”

So, there’s wasn’t an “Oklahoma drill” on Wednesday.

“Nope,” Andersen said.

Trade deadline

The Falcons didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline that passed at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

“No, we just had a couple of discussions about things,” Morris said. “Of course, (general manager) Terry (Fontenot) is always grinding and is on the phone. I’m definitely (not) a part of all of those conversations. I’m preparing for the Saints. Those are the things you really want to be concerned with. We feel really good about the guys we have. Feel really good about where we are at.”

The Falcons are last in the league with nine sacks and didn’t make a move to improve the pass rush.

Za’Darius Smith was traded from the Browns to the Lions and Preston Smith, who played at Stephenson High, was traded from Green Bay to Pittsburgh.

Za’Darius Smith, a three-time Pro Bowler, has 65 career sacks.

Preston Smith, who’ll turn 32 on Sunday, has 68.5 career sacks. He’s had at least eight sacks in six seasons.

Injury report

Andersen, who has missed the past five games with a left knee injury, said he’s plans to play against the Saints.

Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (Achilles) and wide receiver Drake London (hip pointer) remain day-to-day, according to Morris. “I don’t have act like I’m hiding anything,” Morris said. “But I’m feeling really good about it.”

Andersen scored a touchdown and was name the NFC’s defensive player of the week after the 26-24 win over the Saints on Sept. 29.

“Definitely looking forward to playing some football,” Andersen said. “It’s exciting.”

Morris said Andersen was close to playing last week against the Cowboys.

“You’re itching to play, but you’ve got to go through the process and make sure everything is right and good,” Andersen said. “We are there. I’m excited to get back out there. I feel good. I’m ready to go.”

Because they didn’t practice the Falcons had to issues an “estimated” injury report.