The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coleman ready for increased workload
Running back should get more carries with Freeman likely out.
FLOWERYBRANCH— On the verge of making his fourth NFL start, Tevin Coleman would have you believe nothing will change in the Falcons’ running attack Monday night when they play the Seahawks.
At least one thing seems nearly certain to be different, though, as he prepares to shoulder the burden in Seattle with teammate Devonta Freeman likely to miss the
gamew hile he’s in the concussion protocol.
His carries may increase, and he might match or surpass the career-high-tying 20 he had for a season-high 83 yards in Sunday’s 27-7 win over the Cowboys. Freeman was injured on the second play of the game.
“That’s the times when you lean on Tevin more, and we did that in the game,” coach
Dan Quinn said. “We’re fortunate that we have Terron (Ward) aswell, who can also play in some roles.”
That was only the ninth time in 34 NFL games Coleman carried the ball 10 or more times in a game, but while he figures to be the work horse Monday, he said his relationship with Freeman remains the same, and he’s not changing a thing in practice.
“Nothing more, and nothing less,” the third-year pro said. “I go through the same process as I do each and every other week. ... You know, (Freeman’s) in a tough place right now, but he’s just saying, ‘Go out there and do your thing,’ as he would do if he was here.”
In a scout’s eye, there are differences in the running styles of Freeman and Coleman.
Where the 5-foot-8, 206pound Freeman is a tadmore likely to make multiple cuts, the 6-1, 210-pound Coleman usually is a one-cut-and-getup-the-field guy.
Quarterback Matt Ryan said the differences are so subtle he doesn’t notice.
“I don’t think it changes so much in terms of the scheme or anything like that. We trust both our guys both, and I don’t think anything changes in the run game, for sure,” the quarterback said. “I usually don’t even think about who’s in there when we’re calling run plays.”
There are a few calls in the Falcons’ playbook that offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian will call for one back rather than the other, and vice versa, but the lists apparently are short.
“There’s always ones that we like to feature by certain guys, but we’ll definitely lean on him more if Free’s not able to go, and plays that we use often times are the same ones,” Quinn said. “There’s a few that we have that are specific to both of them, but we’ll lean on him more for sure.”
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll probably won’t miss Freeman, or at least the “dynamic” tandem he referred to in the Falcons’ 36-20 win over Seattle in January. The two backs combined to rush 25 times for 102 yards and a score and had seven receptions for 102 yards and a score.
“We watched (Coleman) play with great speed,” Carroll said Thursday. “Big-play ability. A good catcher and route runner as well ... If he’s going to get most of the load, he’s an explosive football player.”
Familiar burden
It’s not like Coleman hasn’ t played the role of work horse before.
As a junior at Indiana in 2014, he rushed 270 times in 12 games for 2,036 yards, 15 touchdowns and a 7.5yard average.
In back-to-back late-season games, he carried 32 times for 307 yards against Rutgers and 27 times for 228 yards and three touchdowns against eventual national champion Ohio State.
All those big plays jumped out at Falcons officials before they drafted the Tinley Park, Ill., native in the third round in 2015.
“It’s the explosive plays that Tev is able to create, and it’s the 3-yard run that all of a sudden turns into a 25-yard run,” Quinn said when asked what stands out. “It’s the explosiveness, it’s the speed that he has when he can get on the edge or get to the second level.”
Coleman apparently likes the idea he may be busier than usual against the Seahawks if Freeman misses only the second game of his four-year career (concussion in 2015), although it’s kind of hard to tell. He’s not a big talker, although he did confirm he gets more comfortable the more he gets the ball.
“I mean, yeah, but ... I’m just going out there doing my job, taking it each day at a time,” he said. “You get a better feel and things like that as you get more carries.”
Coleman figures to be backed up by Ward, a 5-7, 201-pound battering ram of sorts, and the Falcons on Wednesday signed former LSU running back Terrence Magee (5-8, 214) off the Browns’ practice squad.
Quinn also said fullback Derrick Coleman could get some carries.
The men up front tasked with blocking aren’t concerned with who is carrying the ball.
“I think there’s a difference for defenses. They run differently, but in terms of what we do we keep the same kind of rules,” center Alex Mack said. “We practice it prettymuch the same way no matter who’s back there all week long so in a game we don’t make anything up.”
The two backs may be more similar than not but don’t look for Coleman to be as emotional as his backfield mate.
“Tevin is a cool cat, and so on the sideline he’s thatway, too,” Quinn said. “Where Freeman is up in your face and yelling, Tev is more true to his self, and he’s always ready. ... He just doesn’t get too fazed by things, doesn’t get too out of whack.
“I love the violence that he runs with, when he lowers his shoulder, because of that speed that he has. This is not a 180-pound back. This is a guy who knows how to drop his shoulder and go finish a run.”