The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kazee growing with better tackling skills
FLOWERY BRANCH — Damontae Kazee invented a word the other day, and eventually it sort of made some sense as he offered an explanation when asked about the Falcons’ improved tackling, or at least his, in the midst of a season where the Falcons’ defense has been riddled by injury and result.
The Falcons missed only six tackles in their most-recent game, against the Saints on Thanksgiving, and coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordi- nator Marquand Manuel have both said that was a season low. Which is a good thing.
And Kazee didn’t let anything get by him. Given that he’s playing free safety, that’s a big deal, especially because he failed a few times previously to be the last resort on defense.
He leads the NFL with six interceptions, and Manuel’s happier about his tackling. Kazee ranks fourth on the team with 56 combined tack- les to trail linebackers De’Vondre Campbell (63), Foye Oluokun (62) and Duke Riley (57).
Kazee’s had great ball instincts from the beginning, but his ball-carrier instincts have been suspect.
He made some serious tackles in the open field last time out, though. Turns out, it came down to “trackling,” which apparently players can work on during the week even as current NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement rules prohibit real tackling in practice.
Kazee opened his explanation with a riddle of sorts.
“Yes, you can definitely practice on that. You know, the past ... two weeks I let the ball get past me. I had to work on that all last week with the two good running backs we faced last week,” Kazee said when asked how he could improve tackling in practice when it is forbidden.
“It’s trackling. It’s trackling,” Kazee said. “You’ve got to trackle.”
That confused everybody. Kazee was excited when reporters spoke with him, and so he was asked: “Trackling?”
He paused to recalibrate, and upon realizing he didn’t say what he meant to say, he then said what he meant to say.
“I mean you’ve got to track ... just track the ball,” he explained. “That’s not film study. That is out on the foot- ball field you’ve got to work on that.”
So, to help you sort this out, Kazee said that getting better at tackling, at least for him, has been about more effectively tracking ball carriers. The super-short summation: take better angles to the ball.
He took an impossibly short run at Nick Chubb against the Browns a few weeks ago, when the former Georgia running back ripped off a fran- chise-record 92-yard touch- down run. Kazee wound up diving sort of near the feet of Chubb as he took off.
That was Kazee being too aggressive and not taking into account that at free safety, job No. 1 is to let no ball carrier pass. Never mind blast- ing dudes.
Don’t let anybody by. That’s rule No. 1, and he’s improving at it.
“It was great to see because it was the week prior against Dallas that he missed one,” Quinn said. “Almost in the same part of the field so that one I thought was just an excellent example of as a middle field player coming up, you don’t have to blow the guy up here.”
Yes, the Falcons (4-7) lost 31-17 in New Orleans, but it’s worth noting before they play
the Ravens (6-5) on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium that they didn’t drop their third consecutive game because of the defense.
Manuel said that Kazee is growing into his role at free safety, where he stepped in the third week of the season once Ricardo Allen went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
It’s not much like the cor- nerback spot he worked at San Diego State before the Falcons drafted him in the fifth round in 2017.
“He’s learning how to play disciplined football. He’s learning to be accountable,” Manuel said. “... He’s not getting it from a playbook. He’s living it.”
Manuel acknowledges that improving tackling is difficult in practice. Sort of.
“It’s the hardest thing, but I’ve always said if you’re able to thud a guy ... let’s take it to that simplest form. It is harder to thud a guy in practice than actually to tackle a person. Why? Thud I can’t take you down. Normally, I can use my momentum, grab you, pull you, something like that. Thud, I have to get to you, hit you and then run my feet.”
When the Falcons try to keep their faint playoff hopes alive against the Ravens, they may face seriously different looks from Baltimore.
Rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson, who’s extremely agile, will start and word has it that pocket passer Joe Flacco may be available to play as well.
“It depends. If Lamar is back there, I can play the run better. Flacco back there, play the pass,” he said. “Yeah, definitely, when Lamar is in (he’ll move forward). Honestly, I don’t care who’s out there.”
Jones set for return: The Falcons will receive a boost from the return of middle linebacker Deion Jones when they face the Ravens on Sunday.
Jones, who was back on the field with the first-team defense this week, hasn’t played since the season opener when he suffered a broken foot. He has practiced with the team since he was activated Nov. 12, but did not play in New Orleans on Thanksgiving night.