MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Atlanta Falcons begin their first preseason under head coach Raheem Morris at 7 p.m. Friday when they complete a week of competition with the Miami Dolphins under the lights of Hard Rock Stadium.
But both the Falcons and Dolphins are expected to compete without the majority of their starting players. Morris, who spoke to reporters before practice on Wednesday, announced a quiet day for his starting players.
“Our threes will get a chance to play in some of our preseason games, and some of our twos will get a chance to play, and we’ll play a few of them,” Morris said. “We’ll have to make a pretty good assessment from a coaching perspective.”
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Perhaps the most striking aspect is that Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is unlikely to play. The soon-to-be 36-year-old passer said he and Morris talked about suiting up for tryouts during training camp in June, and while Cousins thought it was a good idea to look at live ammunition, Morris wasn’t convinced.
“I think that request fell on deaf ears,” Cousins said at the start of training camp. “Raheem’s motto is, ‘You don’t play.’ And I don’t know if I’m letting the cat out of the bag or anything, but his approach was, ‘That’s just not how we want to do things.'”
With Cousins all but out of the running, first-round rookie Michael Penix Jr. will be used a lot at quarterback.
“You’re going to get to know Michael well,” Morris said Wednesday in Miami. “You’re going to get a chance to take him out there and watch him work.”
It’s probably safe to assume that nearly all of Atlanta’s starting offense — from Cousins to running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney, tight end Kyle Pitts and the offensive line — will not play Friday night.
That leaves most of the work to Penix, who will be joined in the backfield by running backs Carlos Washington Jr. and rookie Jase McClellan. As a receiver, Penix will have to attack multiple targets, most notably sixth-round rookie Casey Washington and returning practice squad members Josh Ali and Chris Blair.
Atlanta’s defense could see some regulars on the field – cornerback Mike Hughes seems like a likely candidate, and with the depth of the defensive front, it’s likely that some rotation players will be used on Friday.
Veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett is highly unlikely to play, although he didn’t shed much light on the situation Wednesday. He tore his ACL in Week 8 of last season and only recently returned to full strength in practice.
“Friday will take care of itself,” Jarrett said. “Whatever the outcome, you know I’ll be ready.”
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel hinted during his press conference on Wednesday that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who did not play in the season opener in each of the past two years, will extend his winning streak to three.
“Do I expect, based on past scenarios, that you’ll be surprised by what you would call a departure from the last two years? I don’t think you’ll be surprised,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel added that he and the Dolphins team would make their final decision on the starting players on Thursday, so he did not reveal his answer before the game. But in a similar situation in last year’s opening game, few first-team players were on the field.
When the two teams face off on Friday night, many familiar faces will be watching from the sidelines with an eye on the respective regular seasons, which begin for both teams on September 8th.
