FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — When the Atlanta Falcons held their first periods of 11-on-11 work during their first OTA practice , rookie edge rusher James Pearce Jr. was not among the participants. That raised a few questions about the status of the team's first-round pick, and maybe even a touch of concern.

Well, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris squashed any concern Monday when he made it clear that was intentional for Pearce's progression.

"We had him on the side, ramping him up, as we call it when we get him in here," Morris said. "We want to get everybody to a certain spot we want them to be before we get them out there in practice. We don't like to just throw people into drills.

"Like, for example, when a guy has a miss or something. We may ramp him back into it to make sure we're not m

See Full Page