FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons linebacker Leonard Floyd sent his mother, Chrishonda, into tears.
“My mom was crying,” Floyd said Tuesday. “She was way more excited than me from the phone call. She was crying once I told her. ... I was like Mom you’ve got to calm down. They haven’t put it on TV yet.
“But she was just so happy for me because she’s been a Falcon fan her whole life. She’s been tailgating. Even though I’ve been on other teams, she would still come and tailgate with the Falcons sometimes. It was just so surreal for her. I’m going to go out and put on my thang for her, too.”
Floyd, who signed a one-year, $10 million with the Falcons in free agency, has stayed grounded in his home state over his NFL career after being a standout at Georgia.
“I’ve always been in Georgia every offseason, working out in the Buford area,” Floyd said.
He plans to participate in the offseason program and organized team activities which normally start mid-April.
“I will definitely be here,” Floyd said. “I’m a Georgia boy, so I will be here for OTAs, for sure.”
The Falcons have signed players from Georgia to one-year deals in recent years, such as Darqueze Dennard (Twiggs County/Michigan State) in 2020 and Bud Dupree (Wilkinson County/Kentucky) in 2023. They also signed other veterans Calais Campbell (2023) and Justin Simmons (2024) to a one-year deals to help spruce up the defense.
Dupree and Campbell were productive, while Dennard played in only two more NFL games after his stop with the Falcons. Simmons, who completed his ninth season in the league, is still available in free agency.
The Falcons are hoping that Floyd still has some gas left in his tank.
“For me, I always think back when, when Vic (Beasley) was playing, you know, the energy that I felt from the Falcons,” Floyd said of the last player to get double-digit sacks for the Falcons (2016). “Just the swagginess. I like the colors. I like the black, the red and the logo. You can’t beat it. And I love to have that jersey on.”
The Falcons started adding defenders to the defense in the last draft.
“When I look at it, it’s a defense with a lot of young cats,” Floyd said. “I’m looking to come in and just help them and them help me also. Just doing whatever it takes to win. Doing our job as a defense and keeping (the) offenses (from) scoring.”
Floyd acknowledges that he’s not a vocal leader.
“I’m more of an action-based leader,” Floyd said. “I do it by practicing hard. You know, going hard every day. I don’t never really get into the vocal side of it. I always try to lead through my actions.”
When Floyd was with the Rams and the Bills, he had plenty of help around him.
With the Rams, perennial Pro Bowler defensive tackle Aaron Donald anchored the defensive line that also featured Von Miller during their Super Bowl LVI run. When Floyd was with the Bills, their front had defensive tackle Ed Oliver and pass-rusher Greg Rousseau.
The Falcons have veteran defensive tackles David Onyemata and Morgan Fox, who also signed in free agency. Also, defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro was a second-round pick last year, and outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie, who’s headed into his fourth season, has shown some pass-rush promise.
Also, outside linebacker Bralen Trice, who missed his rookie season with an Achilles injury suffered last year, is set to play his first NFL snaps.
“What I had in L.A., a group of guys that you know can work together as a unit,” Floyd said. “And even if we don’t get the sack, as long as (we’re) affecting the quarterback. You know what I’m saying? It’s basically playing off each other.”
The Falcons, under defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, plan to rush as a unit.
Improving the pass rush is a major offseason priority for the Falcons, who finished with 31 sacks last season (ranked 31st in league).
“There’s no great defense that’s ever lived in this league that didn’t affect the quarterback,” Ulbrich said recently. “You’ve got to affect the quarterback in two ways. Either we affect him physically, get him off the spot, sack him, hit him, or we affect him from the standpoint of from a coverage perspective and try to confuse him.”
Floyd used some basketball analogies for the pass-rush rotation.
“I might not get to sack this play, but I’m going to run this (stunt) as hard as I can,” Floyd said. “So you can’t, you know what I’m saying? It’s basically like pick-and-roll in basketball. Or, we can fast break everybody. Hey, let’s go. You know what I’m saying?”
Floyd plans to stay busy until the offseason program starts.
“Next few weeks, I’m training with my trainer, working on pass rush,” Floyd said. “I’m big on game-type situations. So, always working on pass rush. You know, working on pass rush, working on pass rush, work on pass rush. That’s all I do.”
Floyd believes that a lot of basketball translates to football.
“You can draw inspiration from them because it’s all steps,” Floyd said. “You can find yourself doing some of the same steps in football. You know, you do an inside move as a pass rusher. It’s basically, with the basketball, the Euro-step. You can see a lot from basketball and usually in football, for sure.”
Floyd is hoping he can Euro-step his way to a career-high 11 sacks next season.
Since Beasley’s one-off season of 15.5 sacks, the Falcons highest sacker was defensive end Adrian Clayborn with 9.5 in the 2017 season.
The franchise has not had two players with double-digit sack totals in one season since defensive end Patrick Kerney (13) and defensive tackle Rod Coleman (11.5) terrorized quarterbacks in 2004. Jim Mora’s team went on to the NFC Championship game that season.
Also, now that he’s back in Georgia, Floyd can see his mother more and frequent one of his favorite restaurants.
“I love American Deli,” Floyd Said. “I’ll probably go after this (interview). I love the honey-hot wings. You know, get the chicken-fried rice. Call it a day.”
A maybe get a napkin, in case his mother still is shedding tears of joy.
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