The Falcons will take on the Browns this Sunday to close out their first preseason under head coach Arthur Smith. Thus far, the team has been reluctant to play its starters, but Smith said he anticipates that will change against Cleveland.
In a recent interview on the Rich Eisen Show, Smith discussed his approach to the preseason finale.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNqEEI6GhQ?start=139]
“I think the preseason has definitely been evolving, probably the last five or six years around the league,” said Smith. “People have taken a lot of different approaches. In the past, I think it was pretty standard, and the third one was kind of the dress rehearsal.”
Smith went on to say he expects to play the starters on Sunday.
“With us, the anticipation is we’ll probably play everybody. We’ll make the determination at the end of the week.”
Even if starters do play, it is unlikely they will play very much. It’s hard to envision Matt Ryan playing a significant amount, but the team has to build a game plan for the season and this could be the first step we see in that direction.
“As a staff, we’re not going into some heavy game plan, but we need to get in the rhythm of what our in-season schedule is because we’re year one.”
When asked specifically about Kyle Pitts and Matt Ryan, Smith noted this decision will be made by the end of the week and that they will play just about everybody on the roster. The intent is to get into a steady routine as the team heads into a Week 1 matchup against the Eagles.
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