FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The starters for the Atlanta Falcons are expected to play longer Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals.
Quarterback Matt Ryan is looking forward to facing the stingy Cardinals defense.
“You want to go against good teams and good players to kind of sharpen your skills,” Ryan said. “It will be a good test. … We’ll get a chance to evaluate and see where we are at and see what we need to improve on as we keep heading on into the season. They certainly do have a lot of talent on that defense.”
The Falcons believe the Cardinals have a potent offense, too.
“Carson (Palmer) is one of the elite quarterbacks regardless of what anyone says,” defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel said. “He wasn’t the No. 1 pick just because. He still has a very strong arm. He has nice receivers outside and both running backs, enough said.
“So, it’s a great challenge from that standpoint to go against guys and this high-rated offense. They spread the ball around and are tough in the run game. It’s going to be a big challenge.”
–Falcons two-time Pro-Bowl running back Devonta Freeman, who is in the league’s concussion protocol, is unlikely to play in the final two exhibition games, head coach Dan Quinn said on Thursday.
“For him, it would be unlikely that he would (play in the fourth exhibition game),” Quinn said. “I would like to get him back out practicing.”
Freeman is in the final stages of the league’s five-step concussion protocol. He left practice on Sunday, Aug. 13 and has not practiced since. He’s started running and will likely work out before the game against Arizona on Saturday.
“We’re hopeful that as we get started for practice next week,” Quinn said. “He’ll probably work out before the game, but we won’t play him in the game. He hasn’t been cleared to play so we’ll work him out. Hopefully, he’ll be cleared the day after and we can get going.”