The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five who helped their causes, and five who hurt their chances
The Falcons’ deep reserves were no match Thursday night for the Miami Dolphins, who started most of their second team along with veteran quarterback Brock Osweiler in the final exhibi- tion game of the preseason for each team.
The Falcons lost 34-7, and while the number of tickets distributed for the game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was announced as 71,192, most of those fans elected not to attend.
Now the Falcons will turn toward roster decisions, as the team has until 4 p.m. today to cut its roster from 91 players to 53.
Here are five players who helped themselves in the loss to the Dolphins — and five who didn’t:
Those who did
1. Running back Malik Williams. He ran with authority and scored on an 8-yard touchdown run. He also had a 16-yard gain on a screen pass and daz- zled with a hurdle over a defender. He rushed seven times for 20 yards and made two catches for 35 yards.
“He was one of the players who provided us with some ene r gy,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “He jumped a guy. I thought he had another physical run. That’s the big back that we were hoping to see coming out of Louisville. We saw him
lower his shoulder and make yards after contact. That was encouraging tonight for us to see that.”
He left the game with a shoulder injury and did not return.
2. Linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee. The undrafted rookie from Rice was all over the field early. He hit with power and knew where he was supposed to be.
“We really felt that he made a jump over the last 10 days or so,” Quinn said. “He had a good week of practice last week and another good one this week in preparation. There are some of those plateaus that you hit as a rookie and then there is wall and you’ve got to go right through it. He certainly did that.”
3. Linebacker Emmanuel Smith. The undrafted linebacker from Vanderbilt had a nice hit on Miami wide receiver Isaiah Ford that led to an interception by cor- nerback Chris Lammons.
“On the (special) teams side of things, those two guys (Emmanuel Ellerbee and Emmanuel Smith) showed the speed that we are look- ing for,” Quinn said.
4. Punter David Marvin. He did a nice job punting for Matt Bosher. He had 10 punts for 445 yards (44.5 yards per punt). He had a long of 58 yards and placed one punt inside the Dolphins’ 20 yard line.
“What a big hit that was (on his last 58-yard punt),” Quinn said. “We knew he had a strong kickoff leg, so we were hoping to get him some exposure doing that as well. That’s a part of his game that came through loud and clear for us.”
5. Linebacker Jonathan Celestin. He had six tackles and played inside, next to the kicker on special teams. He’s been clocked at 4.7 in the 40-yard dash, and the Falcons were concerned whether he was fast enough to play on special teams. On the opening kickoff, he made the tackle.
Those who didn’t
1. Wide receiver Reggie Davis. He didn’t help himself with a dropped pass on a slant on the second series of the game. He played like he didn’t want to take a hit. He was targeted six times and didn’t make a catch.
2. Offensive tackle Matt Gono. He had trouble with speed rushers against the Dolphins.
3. Cornerback Ryan Neal. He had a Miami receiver run through one of his tackle attempts.
4. Quarterback Kurt Benkert. Benkert played the first three quarters but his numbers weren’t impressive as he finished with a 19.2 passer rating. He did a good job of managing the offense. He moved around the pocket well, but didn’t make any memorable plays.
5. Wide receiver Devin Gray. He dropped a pass from Benkert that he had to come back to. He was targeted four times and caught one of them for 13 yards.