Falcons coach Arthur Smith in no hurry to settle starting offensive line

Atlanta Journal-Constitution photo by Jason Getz via AP / Atlanta Falcons offensive guards Justin Shaffer (75) and Chris Lindstrom drill Saturday during training camp in Flowery Branch, Ga.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution photo by Jason Getz via AP / Atlanta Falcons offensive guards Justin Shaffer (75) and Chris Lindstrom drill Saturday during training camp in Flowery Branch, Ga.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith likes what he has seen thus far from the offensive line in training camp, even though the unit still has three unsettled positions.

Atlanta is set at left tackle with Jake Matthews and at right guard with Chris Lindstrom, a pair of former first-round picks signed to lucrative contract extensions, but the other spots are less clear.

Drew Dalman and Matt Hennessy are battling at center. Elijah Wilkinson has moved past Jalen Mayfield at left guard, and Kaleb McGary, whose team option was not picked up in the offseason, appears to be holding off Germain Ifedi at right tackle.

Smith said Saturday that the team is prepared to wait as long as the first week of the season to settle on a five-man front. Atlanta opens at home on Sept. 11 with an NFC South Division game against rival New Orleans.

"As long as it takes," Smith said. "Last year we thought we had our starting left guard, and Josh Andrews broke his hand. It's just fluid. A guy might go down on the second play of the game, and you've got to have that (depth), obviously.

"Conventional wisdom is there's chemistry, but that's not reality in the NFL. At some point, somebody will emerge, but I'm not worried about the timeline."

Mayfield, a starter in 16 of 17 games last season, has missed the past two practices with a sore back, but his previous struggles in camp opened the door for Wilkinson.

"Elijah's got some experience," Smith said. "It's a little bit different for him playing in there at left guard. There's some things - you have a little leeway, but you like some of the movement. Experience, intelligence, things happen a lot quicker right there. It's close quarters. A little different from tackle. I feel like he's progressing. It'll play itself out."

Dalman and Hennessy are continuing to swap reps at center with the first-team offense, which is led by quarterback Marcus Mariota. The other snaps the ball to Desmond Ridder with the No. 2 unit.

The Falcons are coming off a 7-10 season in which they allowed 40 sacks, tied for 11th most in the league. Mariota and Ridder are both more mobile than their predecessor, franchise cornerstone Matt Ryan, who was traded to the Indianapolis Colts during the offseason.

Smith stopped short of saying who will start and who will get the most reps for Atlanta's preseason opener next Friday against the host Detroit Lions, but he did like what he saw overall in Saturday's two-hour session.

"You're balancing two things, right?" he said. "You're getting ready to play a preseason game, managing whatever kind of strategy you want, how many reps for everybody, but you're also still trying to work on your own team and have some training camp days.

"It's good to finish the week like that. It says a lot about our guys' mindset, trying to string together good practices, competitive. I was really pleased. That was a good physical practice."

Camp notes

Reserve defensive tackle Bryce Rodgers was helped off the field by a trainer and then driven on a cart to the locker room after crumpling to the field near the end of practice. Smith said it was too early to give a prognosis. ... The Falcons got bad news earlier in the week when defensive lineman Vincent Taylor was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles' tendon; the postition's depth had already taken a blow on the eve of camp when Eddie Robinson retired. ... Damien Williams, the former Chicago Bears running back who signed as a free agent, got a veteran's day to rest on Wednesday but was back on the field Friday and Saturday. He'll get more rest Sunday, when the entire team is off.

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