The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
'Spoon' upbeat for return
Back frominjury, linebacker working his way into shape.
Sean
FLOWERY BRANCH — Weatherspoon watched from afar and in anguish as opponents successfully ran the ball during the Falcons’ three-game losing streak.
The Bills, Dolphins and Patriots rushed for 117, 138 and 162 yards. Teams want to run on the Falcons to play keep-away from the off ff ff ff ff ff en se, and the strategy has been working.
“The first three games were pretty awesome,” Weatherspoon said Wednesday. “Then the last three when you come out on the other side of the column, it’s a little bit rough.”
The Falcons are set to face the New York Jets at 1 p.m. Sunday at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Weatherspoon will start out as a reserve middle and weakside linebacker during his third stint with the team, which began Tuesday.
Weather spoon will not initially be able to help the run defense because he has to work his way back into football shape. Veteran defensive tackle Ahtyba Rubin is ready to contribute and help out against the run.
But Weather spoon believes the defense can still be special, and he plans to contribute as quickly as possible.
“Ultimately, you just see a whole lot of talent,” Weatherspoon said. “You just feel like you can come in and use your voice a little bit and just kind of keep everybody a little bit more loose and relaxed. I think that’s something that we can do.”
Weatherspoon’s return was well-received.
“You certainly hear him when he comes in,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “I’ve loved him as a teammate. It’s good to have a familiar face back in there. He cando good things for us, for sure.”
Weatherspoon suffffered a torn Achilles after the fififth game last season and had been angling to re-sign with the Falcons.
“It’s just beena long road,” he said. “It’s been about a year (since the injury). I really just stuck to the grind and kept on working. I got married in June. I wanted to be healthy bymywedding. I thought I was healthy then, but around training campit just wasn’t ready.”
Weatherspoon worked out for the Falcons on Tuesday. Coach Dan Quinn was pleased with the workout.
“I had spoken to him on the phone, but I hadn’t see him,” Quinn said. “He said, ‘I’m in shape.’ He was trying to test me. I said, ‘OK, we’ll see.’ Then, I saw him first and I said, ‘Man, you look good.’ Thenweput him through the workout and he kept responding to that.
“Now, I want to see him practice and play. The terms we use is football shape … how long is that going to take, I don’t know. It’s going to take more than a day or two to get ready to play.
“He’s ready to go. I was impressed with how fifit he was and how strong he looked. You can tell that he’s been working out.”
DefensivecoordinatorMarquand Manuel also liked his workout.
“It’s awesome to have Spoon back,” Manuel said. “He looked good, but he’s got to get in shape.”
Weatherspoon, who was selected in the fifirst round (19th overall) of the 2010 draft, believes he can eventually help the team.
“I definitely have a role with Keith Armstrong (on special teams), soI’mexcited about that,” Weatherspoon said. “We’ll fifigure out everything fromthere. I look forward to playing.”
Weatherspoon was on his wayto ProBowl status before a rash of injuries sidetracked his career in 2013. He’s been battling back since. He spent the 2015 seasonwithArizona and helped themreach the NFC title game in a reserve role. He returned to the Falcons in 2016.
“I know that I can definitely bring the energy level, but I’m hoping that I can bring some explosiveness to it, too,” Weatherspoon said. “Like (Quinn) said, in my workout I felt pretty good. I did some good things. I look forward to it translating and putting it on the fifield.”
The Falconswere keeping track of Weatherspoon and his recovery.
“In this case, we thought him having some extended timefor therehabwasgood,” Quinn said. “It’s been over a year since he had his injury. He was hopeful to make it back for training camp, but when hewasn’t signedthere, we thought an extra month and a half, twomonths, was important for him.”
The Falcons don’t plan to rush Weatherspoon into the lineup.
“We’ll start himbackin the process here at linebacker,” Quinn said. “We don’t know howlong it will take for him to get ready. Butwe are just going to start today.”
The Falcons plan to crosstrain Weatherspoon.
“Both of the two inside spots,” Quinn said. “It’s kind of what we were able to do with him last year. (Middle) and (weakside linebacker) prior to his injuries. We’ll start him inside and then we’ll see where we go from there. LaRoy (Reynolds) will be back shortly as well.”
Weatherspoon also can provide leadership to the Falcons’ young linebacker unit.
“He’s a guywho’s a leader who brings energy and juice,” Quinn said. “He’s a goodtackler. Whentheinjury (to rookie Duke Riley) took place, it was good timing for him and for us and he’s a guy we trust and respect a bunch.”