Hoops? Trivia? Games tap competitive fire

Quinn shapes Falcons with purposeful fun amid regimented week.

FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons strong safety William Moore professes to have the sweetest jump shot on the team.

He said cornerback Desmond Trufant has major basketball skills, too.

“Trufant is cool,” Moore said. “He hit four shots this morning, but he has to get warmed up first. If he’s not warmed up, he’s (no good).”

The basketball goal in the team’s meeting room is just another way for the Falcons to compete and have fun while going through their workweek to prepare for an NFL game.

With the Falcons off to a 4-0 start and ready to face Washington (2-2) at 1 p.m. today at the Georgia Dome, no one is complaining.

“It’s just competition,” wide receiver Julio Jones said. “When all eyes are on you, what are you going to do? A lot of guys fold under pressure. Coach is always putting that pressure on you and making you be comfortable with that pressure.” Does it work? “I mean, we’re 4-0 right now,” Jones said. “It’s doing a great job for us.”

Coach Dan Quinn has a game of football “Jeopardy!” that he plays. Just another way for the players to compete.

Quinn has been pleased that the players have taken to some of his methods, ones that he learned in Seattle when assisting coach Pete Carroll.

Quinn gets in on the fun. When told that Moore said there’s a “no dunking” rule, he quipped, “He would have to be able to dunk.”

The games reinforce the message of competition.

“When we do those, it’s obviously about having fun and competing,” Quinn said. “We like to bring that into the meeting room; we like to bring that to practice. At the core of our program, competition is the central theme. We try to put it into everything that we do.

“We do basketball. We do ‘Jeopardy!’ We do all sorts of things while we are going through it.”

It’s not all fun and games that have the Falcons off to a 4-0 start. Quinn is regimented in his approach, but he sprinkles in fun.

While the players are stretching on some days, Quinn and a few of the assistant coaches are throwing passes from 20 yards away, trying to knock a helmet off a trash can.

Although the games and competitions change, the work stays the same.

On Monday, it’s truth day. The coaches have reviewed the film and then reveal to the team the truth about what happened in the last game.

Once that’s addressed, they move on to Wednesday, which sometimes is the big basketball competition day.

Then it’s on to “Third Down Thursday.”

“On third downs, we’ll be flying today,” Quinn said Thursday. “Both sides have been good on third downs. We love the work that we get going against one another in those third-down periods, offense against defense. All of the protection and pressure that goes into it.”

Then it’s on to “Finishing Friday.” That’s the day the Falcons stress finishing a game. It has been a big hit, as the Falcons have posted three fourth-quarter comebacks this season. They have finished games in a strong fashion.

The veterans and the rookies alike have brought into Quinn’s program.

“As a rookie, you just have to listen and take in the coaching,” safety Robenson Therezie said.

“It’s all about the ball and competing. Once that message gets to you, you realize the standard of the program. The standard is very simple.

“It’s not rocket science. For us young guys, it’s very easy for us to catch up to the game with a simple theme of the program. It’s all about the ball and competing.”

Therezie has had to work on his basketball skills.

“It’s all about competition,” Therezie said. “Whoever’s called up to shoot, we are going to shoot. It’s all about winning. Whatever we do, we just want to win.”

Moore, a veteran, senses a different vibe within the team under Quinn.

“We always had that around here, but it’s a new positive vibe, a lot of energy and you can be yourself,” Moore said. “We have a new approach to the game since the day he walked in here because we had two back-to-back losing sea- sons. For guys who have been here and the guys who came in, we had the same common goals.”

The Falcons signed left guard Chris Chester, a 10-year veteran, after he was cut by Washington. He’s a newcomer, but has embraced his new environment.

“Coach Quinn has done a good job of stressing the importance of taking care of the man next to you and playing for one another and really being a family,” Chester said.

“It’s not lip service. It’s sincere. I think it speaks volumes to the kind of guys that he’s brought in. A lot of these guys are accountable to be good teammates and not just individuals.”

Quinn sensed early in his tenure that his methods would be well-received.

“I felt how hard the competitors wanted to keep getting better and improve,” Quinn said.

“It’s a total challenge with new systems, both offensively and defensively. All of the learning that goes into the OTA and training camp, guys just wanting to be at their best. I think the closer the team gets, that’s when it carries over to the field.”