It is the first day of training camp. Michael Vick is hundreds of miles from here in some courtroom, but he is in every head around Falcons headquarters.
On one side of the building are protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals carrying signs and cuddly puppies. On the other are picketers supporting Vick. Overhead is an airplane carrying a banner proclaiming the Falcons “Dog- Killers.” And everywhere there are microphones and notepads.
Two weeks later the delirium has died down. But the impact remains. This is a team that has endured a major trauma and deep cuts, not unlike some of the dogs Vick has been accused of mistreating.
The Falcons will tell you they are wearing blinders. They have moved on. They take solace in the fact that if this had to happen, it happened early. Even before they have played their first exhibition game, Vick almost has become “He Who Must Not Be Named,” a la Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series. And to the credit of general manager Rich McKay and new coach Bobby Petrino, the Falcons have practiced crisply and efficiently. But of course there has been an emotional toll.
The only time in recent NFL history a team has been shaken similarly so close to the start of training camp was when Barry Sanders abruptly announced his retirement from the Lions in 1999. The Falcons will be happy to know the Lions won eight games that season, three more than they had the year before.
At that point of his career, Sanders was a far more valuable player than Vick is now. But the Falcons had renewed hope for Vick before he was charged with felony dogfighting.
Early in his football life, Vick rarely showed up for off-season workouts. After the Falcons put a clause in his contract giving him a bonus for showing up at 75 percent of the off-season practices, he started showing up for exactly 75 percent. But this off-season the team facility became his sanctuary. Vick started coming around three weeks before the official start of the program, and he made every practice. Longtime Vick observers were saying Vick was performing better in off-season practices than he had at any previous point in his six-year career.
Petrino began to build his offense around Vick’s unique talents. Joey Harrington never took a snap with the first-team offense until the first day of training camp.
Harrington’s skill set is radically different from Vick’s, so the offense must become a different animal. Petrino promises to play to the strength of his quarterback, as opposed to forcing the player into his system.
Unlike Vick, Harrington is a pocket quarterback. But while the Falcons aren’t practicing the scramble drill very much these days, Petrino says he still plans on moving the pocket around and having different launch points for Harrington.
While Harrington has enough arm strength, he won’t be able to make some of the throws Vick could. So Petrino will have to adjust some of his pass patterns. Tight end Alge Crumpler anticipates different defensive game plans with Harrington under center. “There are certain coverages I know we’ll see that we haven’t seen in the past,” Crumpler said. “We never saw Two Man because if everybody is taking off downfield and they have their backs turned, Mike could take off for 40 yards.”
On the positive side, Harrington has experience. On the truthful side, almost all of it has been bad. His record as a starter in five seasons with the Lions and Dolphins is 23-43 and his career passer rating is 68.1. The book on Harrington is he unloads the ball too quickly before letting the play develop. As a leader he has been ineffective.
Harrington professes to have learned from his mistakes. The Falcons believe he will benefit from working with the best set of receivers he ever has thrown to, from having the ability to liberally change plays at the line of scrimmage for the first time in his career and from Petrino’s coaching.
They also can look around the NFC South and see their primary rivals dealing with emotional issues of their own. Everyone wonders if the Saints can continue their excellence now that they aren’t riding that post- Katrina wave. The Bucs have lost three of their longtime leaders in Mike Alstott, Simeon Rice and Shelton Quarles. And the Panthers have to overcome the training-camp retirement of safety Mike Minter, the leader of their secondary.
The Falcons know the Vick situation has caused almost everyone on the outside to write them off. They just have to hope people on the inside haven’t done the same.
NFC South impressions
Steve Smith is the quickest player in football, and he’s as tough as he is quick. But the Panthers need another receiver to step up to complement him, or Smith won’t be all he can be.
Jeff Garcia should flourish in Jon Gruden’s offense, but there is no way he can flourish for 16 games. With his style of play, body type and high mileage, Garcia is good for 10 games, tops.
More runners should leave their feet at the end of a run the way Reggie Bush does. The problem is they don’t have the nerve. And really, you can’t blame them.
The Falcons didn’t get a lot of attention for signing Ovie Mughelli, but he’ll be the best fullback in football this season. Mughelli was a late bloomer who was coming into his own last season in Baltimore. Nobody throws a lead block like this 255-pound bull.
Can someone please explain how the Bucs improved themselves by cutting Simeon Rice?
Coaching in this division will be outstanding. Sean Payton was coach of the year last year, and the job he did might have been underrated. Gruden is one of the game’s pre-eminent offensive minds. John Fox oversees a whole team as well as anyone in the NFL. And Petrino has a lot of potential.
Drew Brees is the best quarterback in the NFC — not because he has better skills than the others, but because he manages a game so efficiently.
Reports are Cato June looks good in Tampa, but it’s hard to envision him being an effective strong-side linebacker. The former Michigan safety just doesn’t have the length or bulk to match up with tight ends.
Breakout player: Barrett Ruud, Bucs
When the third-year linebacker saw Quarles retiring, he took his preparation to another level. Ruud spent more time with his playbook and less time at the drive-thru, losing 10 pounds to get down to 230.
Since the beginning of camp, Ruud has performed well at middle linebacker, getting the calls right and dropping and covering well enough to stay on the field for nickel downs.
The former second-round pick from Nebraska should make a lot of tackles, as the Bucs’ defensive system calls for many of the plays to be funneled inside to the middle linebacker.
Scout’s take
An NFL scout gives his views on the division:
“New Orleans is the team to beat. They helped their defense a little in the secondary. On offense Drew Brees is reliable, and they’ll find more ways to get Reggie Bush involved after working with him for a year.
“It’s hard to believe Carolina will struggle again. John Fox is too good a coach. I think Jake Delhomme will play better this year, and their defense should get back to a high level.
“Tampa could be better this season. They will be playing to prove some things because last year was an eye-opener for them. Jon Gruden is good with veteran quarterbacks like Jeff Garcia, and he’s one of the better play-callers in the league. I think he’ll get Cadillac Williams more involved. I’m not sure about their defense.
“Atlanta is going to struggle. Joey Harrington can help you win a game or two, but I’d be shocked if he has a phenomenal season. Jerious Norwood is a heck of a player, and he and Warrick Dunn could really be good together if Dunn is healthy. They helped themselves on defense, so they’re going to have to rely on that.”
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dpompei@tribune.com
