FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- For five seasons Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith stalked the sidelines as the Jaguars defensive coordinator. If you didn't know him he had a way of blending in.
He let his defenses do the talking.
The Jaguars defense ranked in the league's top-five in points allowed, overall defense and rushing defense from 2003-2006. Jacksonville finished second in the NFL in total defense in 2006 -- a club record.
Now charged with reorganizing the Falcons, Smith has to do a little more talking. Returning to Jacksonville for his first game will be comforting but don't look for any tears to fog up the former linebacker's glasses.
Football, especially Falcons football, is his business now.
“It’s exciting to go out and be a football coach, but it is going to be exciting for me," Smith said. "I can tell you this is the thing that we work for as coaches. All of the hard work in the preseason and in practice accumulates to going out and playing games. That’s what we’re ultimately going to be judged on.”
Players, of course, will be judged by coaches.
Smith named Chris Redman the starting quarterback for the exhibition opener. He started the final four games of 2007 but anywhere from 10-12 new starters could make Falcons debuts Saturday night.
"We're looking for execution," Smith said. "We want to go out and execute on offense, defense and special teams. We're out to evaluate our football players and our coaching staff."
Notable starters include Harvey Dahl at right guard. Dahl has run with the first team since the beginning of Russell Falcons Training Camp ahead of Kynan Forney. Dahl is two-year veteran with a stop in San Francisco before joining the Falcons last season. He's played in five career games. Rookie Sam Baker is expected to start at left tackle and free-agent addition Alex Stepanovich should play center in place of an injured Todd McClure.
That makes three new starters along the offensive front.
Tony Taylor will start at middle linebacker as Keith Brooking has moved back to the outside. He'll be challenged, however, by second-round pick Curtis Lofton. Cornerback Chris Houston (shoulder) will be a game-time decision, so rookie Chevis Jackson may draw a starting assignment in the secondary.
"If the coaches throw me in because Chris is hurt I just have to go out there and play to the best of my ability," said Jackson, who will also get work at nickel back.
Jackson is part of a young secondary -- only three players have more than two years experience -- but the veterans on the team will be watching for rookie contributions.
Wide receiver Michael Jenkins will start at wide receiver if Laurent Robinson (tail bone) is unable to play.
"It's a chance to just to have fun playing football again," he said. "We get to see the rookies in their first NFL game. Even though it's preseason you still want to win every game you play. You want to watch and see how well those guys do because they're going to help our ball club."
Third overall pick Matt Ryan doesn't know when he'll enter the game at quarterback, but Smith said each of the team's four signal callers will get work with the first team during the preseason. Coaches will look for execution and poise in deciding a starter for the regular season.
But Ryan, like all the team's rookies, is ready to get through his first NFL game.
"I think everyone is excited," he said. "For me it’s just going to be good to have a game under my belt and start to feel more comfortable...
“I think you can’t worry about (expectations) too much. For me it has really just been about coming out, working hard and trying to get better on the practice field every day. If you get caught up worrying about that other stuff, it’s only going to be negative. So, I haven’t tried to think about it too much.”
The man who doesn't appear to show any nerves is the one in charge. Smith is from Florida and will have friends, family and former colleagues in the stand. But even with the well-wishers there's work to do. Every spot on the roster has some sort of competition associated with it.
“I don’t think it will be very emotional," Smith said when asked about his return. " It is going to be nice to see some old friends because I have not had an opportunity to get back to Jacksonville since I took the job here. It will be nice to see some familiar faces I spent five years with. I don’t expect it to be emotional because my focus is for us to go out and do the things we have to do as a football team.”
NOTABLE: The Falcons have posted just two losing preseasons in the last 11 years (0-4 in 2003 and 1-3 in 1997). Other points of interest in Saturday night’s game:
- The Falcons lead the preseason series with the Jaguars 3-2.
- Six Falcons coaches have spent time in Jacksonville (Smith, Brian VanGorder, Bill Musgrave, Ray Hamilton, Paul Boudreau and Alvin Reynolds.
- Atlanta finished last preseason with a 3-1 record.
RELATED LINKS:
- PREVIEW PACK: Take a look at rosters, depth charts and more (PDF)
- COVERAGE: Click here for complete coverage of 2008 Russell Falcons Training Camp
- NEWS: Redman named starter for preseason opener
- TRANSCRIPT: Head Coach Mike Smith (Aug. 7)
- BIRDSEED: J. Mike reviews and recaps Falcons news
- GOOGLE: News on the Jacksonville Jaguars
