DE McKinley aiming for good health, starting job
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Takkarist McKinley should be next in the line of the second-year breakout players on the Atlanta Falcons’ defense.
He knows he needs to be healthy to make that next step, and he’s trying to move past another shoulder injury.
McKinley had surgeries on both shoulders the past two seasons — the right following his 2016 season at UCLA and the left following his 2017 rookie season with the Falcons.
A new problem, a bruised right shoulder, has prevented the second-year defensive end from participating in team drills for most of the start of training camp. He again was limited to individual drills on Monday.
The Falcons say there’s no structural problem, but McKinley’s status is uncertain for Atlanta’s preseason opener at the New York Jets on Friday night.
McKinley said Monday he’s never happy “when you’re not out there on the field. When I play football, I’m not trying to be on the sideline, I’m trying to be out there on the field.”
Coach Dan Quinn said “Takk” could be cleared for full participation today, so he hasn’t been ruled out for the game against the Jets.
The Falcons likely will take a cautious approach with McKinley, the 2017 first- round pick whose health is a key to continued improvement by the defense.
He had six sacks as a rookie backup in 2017. The Falcons hope he can earn a starting job and emerge as another player who makes significant progress in his second year.
“It will happen with Takk,” Quinn said Monday. “We’ll see that jump from him.”
McKinley said Quinn has talked with him about how the team’s other projected starting defensive end, Vic Beasley Jr., led the NFL with 15 1/2 sacks in 2016, his second season. Quinn also told McKinley about safety Keanu Neal and linebackers Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell earning Pro Bowl honors in their second seasons and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett also breaking out in his second year.
“But just because they had a good second year doesn’t guarantee that I’ll have a good second year,” McKinley said. “The sophomore slump is a huge thing.
“Obviously I’m trying to be on the good side, not the slump side. It’s one of those things where you’ve got to prove yourself to be better.”