FLOWERY BRANCH, GA – The Atlanta Falcons are back in training camp. On Thursday morning, the gates at IBM Performance Field opened, and a sold-out crowd made their way inside to see the 2025 Falcons practice. The hill near the practice field was packed with fans watching, cheering, and occasionally oohing and aaahing when certain players made plays during drills.
The expectations for the franchise haven’t been this high for nearly a decade. In fact, it’s been almost as long as the Falcons’ current postseason drought, seven years. To be excited to watch a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in seven years must mean something’s up.
The dream of returning to the playoffs, and maybe even the Super Bowl for the third time in franchise history, begins anew.
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Falcons all-pro safety Jessie Bates III talked to the media after practice, and I asked him what it would mean to end the streak and help the Falcons return to the postseason. Bates III said a playoff berth would mean a lot to more than just the team’s players.
“It’s been a while, this is my third year going into it,” Bates III said. “Year one, we didn’t get into the playoffs. Year two, we were right there. Now it’s year three, and we reset again. I always think about that, I always think about how we can get to the playoffs. When we get to the playoffs, good things happen for everybody in this building.”
Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, a fan favorite over the years and one of the most clutch kickers in the National Football League, said making the playoffs could solve a lot of problems.
“As a young player, coaches used to tell me that winning cures all,” Koo said. “That’s kind of the case in this business. We just have to do it.”
Second-year Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has a lot to do with those high expectations and will play a large part in whether this team wins or not. Morris and his staff, which now includes a new defensive coordinator, helped lead the team to eight wins during the 2024 season. That’s nothing to sneeze at, considering the Falcons went 7-10 for three consecutive seasons prior to 2024. With a full season under his belt, Morris has a roster that’s better equipped to add a couple more wins to the tally.
The Falcons’ defense, particularly the front seven, will have to play much better if the team is going to win the NFC South or grab one of the wild-card spots.
Defensive line coach Nate Ollie said the staff loves the guys the team has in the d-line room.
“The defensive line is the engine of what we are trying to do,” Ollie said. “Every time we are watching that tape, I want to see guys repping our style, that’s getting off on the football, that’s attacking, and that’s running in a dark room.”
If the quarterback position remains the high mark for a successful franchise. Enter: Michael Penix, Jr.
On Thursday, Penix, Jr. looked sharp, but more importantly, he looked like the QB1 is supposed to look.
Back for his sophomore season, Penix may only have three starts on his resume (two were losses, and the only win came over the New York Giants, the second-worst team in the NFL), but he’ll now have the luxury of coming into his second training camp as QB1. That comes with more reps with first-team receivers, including the team’s best, Drake London and Darnell Mooney.
Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts looked good on the first day of training camp, as well. The subject of trade rumours and social media critique for his play, Pitts is coming up on the last year of his contract.
