Dan Quinn addresses Deion Jones
injury
Desmond
Trufant Jersey 2019 , Steven Means signing in Monday presser The Falcons
are reeling from the loss of Keanu Neal, but they won’t get much of a chance to
mourn losing their star safety for the season. The Panthers await, after
all.Appropriately enough, Dan Quinn’s focus was elsewhere Monday, though he did
spend some time talking about Damontae Kazee. Here’s what you need to know from
the head coach’s typical Monday presser.Deion Jones’ foot injury This one will
ring a few alarm bells, because a Falcons defense without Jones or Neal is not a
Falcons defense I relish watching. We won’t get our first real injury update
until Wednesday, something that Dan Quinn acknowledged, but the “sore foot”
phrasing makes it sound like it’s a minor setback rather than an injury that
would leave Jones unable to play against Carolina.Obviously, this bears close
watching. The defense just isn’t as quick or as lethal without Jones, and the
Falcons have to play against a Carolina squad that runs the football often
between Cam
Newton
Black
Damontae Kazee Jersey , C.J. Anderson and Christian McCaffrey. Why the
Falcons signed Steven MeansThis is a pretty succinct summary, but the only one
you need. Means was a monster in the preseason for the Eagles, registering
multiple sacks as a defensive end for that mean Philly defense. He was
supposedly a tough cut for the Eagles to make, and as the fourth or fifth
defensive end on this Falcons defense, it’s not clear how many opportunities
he’ll get right off the bat.That said, the Falcons are smart to do something.
Takk and Brian Poole got sacks and we saw some solid pressure up the middle, but
Vic Beasley once again had a relatively quiet game, and Brooks Reed and Derrick
Shelby in particular didn’t offer a ton off the edge. Means may not get on the
field right away, but the Falcons will find a way to use him if he looks
promising, especially with the pass rush becoming even more important with the
likely dropoff in coverage that comes from losing Keanu Neal. Damontae Kazee is
the guyWe don’t exactly know how the Falcons will divvy up safety snaps at this
point
Damontae
Kazee Jersey 2019 , with Brian Poole potentially becoming a factor down
the line given his physicality and the potential for Isaiah Oliver to emerge at
cornerback sometime this year. But it’s fair to say that Kazee will be a huge
piece of the puzzle, no matter what.This would ring hollow if we hadn’t seen
Kazee play this preseason and then against the Eagles, where despite some
adventures he managed an insanely difficult open field tackle and a murderous
hit that popped the ball loose for Deion Jones to intercept. Allen and Kazee
isn’t quite the duo that Allen and Neal were, and it’s a virtual certainty that
Kazee won’t be as good as Neal in any one aspect of his game this year. But even
if he get 75% of the way there, the Falcons will be in pretty good shape, and I
believe he can. The Cowboys want to sign receiver Amari Cooper to a long-term
deal, but the negotiations apparently are going nowhere. That’s possibly because
Cooper is curious about where another receiver’s effort to get a long-term deal
ends up.Clarence Hill of the contends that the Cowboys believe Cooper is waiting
to see what Julio Jones gets from the Falcons before finalizing a deal in
Dallas. And that makes plenty of sense.Jones could become the highest-paid
receiver in the league, and that would definitely impact the Cooper
negotiations. Indeed, the Cowboys may be trying to base Cooper’s deal on the
$13.924 million that he’s due to make this year and the franchise tag (at least
$17 million) in 2020, which works out to $31 million or so over the
all-important first two
years
Black
Brandon Fusco Jersey , an average of $15.5 million annually. If Jones gets
more than $18 million per year in new money on his extension in Atlanta, Cooper
may aim higher than the formula generated by his first-round option year and the
franchise tag.Cooper also has other leverage when it comes to maximizing his
compensation. The Cowboys traded a first-round pick to get him, and they
publicly (and repeatedly) have declared that he’s their 2019 first-round pick.
Even if those comments came with tongue partially planted in cheek, the Cowboys
surely didn’t surrender a first-round selection for roughly 1.5 seasons with
Cooper.Then there’s the fact that Cooper performed very well during his time
with the Cowboys, energizing the passing game and actually making the
first-round pick they gave up to get him seem to be too light.From Cooper’s
perspective, what’s the rush? He has a fully-guaranteed salary of $13.924
million in 2019, and at a minimum he’ll either become a free agent or receive
the franchise tag in 2020. As long as he’s willing to carry the risk of injury
and/or ineffectiveness for one more season, Cooper holds most of the
cards.
Find in Directory
Find in Events
Find in Marketplace