Falcons Gab

With Mike Turner already on the roster, don’t look for the Falcons to go high on a running back in the draft, including Clemson RB C.J. Spiller:

The Falcons will not use their first round pick on Clemson running back C. J. Spiller. The position is just not that high of a priority. “The running back position is interesting because I think there are a bunch of guys you can get in the third or fourth round that can help you,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. “Especially some of these SEC running backs. I’ll tell you the guy who just really intrigues me is (Dexter) McCluster.”

Sporting News reports that Tim Lewis is joining the Falcons as the teams new secondary coach:

The Falcons hired Tim Lewis on Monday to be the team’s secondary coach, replacing Emmitt Thomas after the team finished 28th in the league against the pass. Lewis spent last season as the defensive backs coach in Seattle after working as the Steelers’ defensive coordinator from 2000-03 and Giants’ coordinator from 2004-06. …

The Falcons got a steal last season when they got tight end Tony Gonzalez from the Chiefs. After a successful season that did end a little early as the Falcons missed the playoffs, there was chatter that Gonzalez would be retiring and leaving the club.

Now though Sporting News reports that Gonzalez has been stating that he’ll be sticking around next season:

Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez reassured Falcons fans that he will return for the 2010 season, according to multiple media reports late Wednesday.

“I’ll be around for sure next season,” Gonzalez said in an interview on the Falcons’ Web site.

Gonzalez told the Atlanta Journal Constitution after this past season’s final game that he was undecided whether he’d continue playing.

“Now that I’ve had a chance to get away from the game a little bit and talk to my family, I’m definitely going to be around for next year,” said Gonzalez, a 13-year NFL veteran.

Gonzalez, who finished his first season in Atlanta with 83 catches for 867 yards and six touchdowns, has 999 career receptions — most by a tight end in NFL history.

Pro Football Weekly reports that William Moore may be on the verge of unseating Erik Coleman in 2010:

Word is the Falcons will give its second-round pick from 2009, William Moore, an opportunity to beat out incumbent starter Erik Coleman for the SS job. Moore missed part of his rookie training camp after undergoing knee surgery and he appeared in just two games during the regular season before getting placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Coleman, who has started every game since signing with the Falcons before the ‘08 season, might be difficult to unseat as an elder statesman of a very young secondary.

USA Today says that the Falcons are not sure how they will approach free agency:

The Falcons are not sure how they will approach free agency. “That will depend in part on whether or not the year is uncapped or capped because obviously a number of players that are (unrestricted) free agents would become restricted free agents,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. “So, we’d have to see how that plays out.” The personnel staff is preparing just in case 212 players do indeed become unrestricted free agents. “We are very, very active in our evaluations of the free agents at this point,” general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “We’ve done a lot of work and we’ll continue to compare a lot of the free agents out there at positions of need.” The Falcons, under Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith, want to build through the draft and use free agency to supplement need areas. “If this is an uncapped season, the landscape of free agency will be much different than years before,” Smith said.

Just in case you were wondering, the Falcons have the 20th toughest schedule in the league for 2010.

The Falcons did reach a milestone on Sunday in their 20-10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For the first time in team history they have back to back winning seasons. Despite that, they failed to make the playoffs despite a three-game win streak to end the year.

“We want to be a relevant football team year in and year out, and that’s what we talk about,” coach Mike Smith said. “When you’re relevant, you’ve got to have a winning record, and then you’ll have an opportunity to be in the discussion for the playoffs. We weren’t in the playoffs this year, but we have a season that gave us nine wins. That’s something that we’re very proud of.”

Matt Ryan threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns to help the Falcons reach a 9-7 record and grab the 10-point win over their division rivals. The Falcons did it without leading rusher Michael Turner, who was replaced by Jason Snelling, who ran for 147 yards on 25 carries.

“I definitely felt like I was in a rhythm, in a zone,” Snelling said. “The coach kept feeding me the ball, I was able to make plays and the guys kept blocking for me.”

Much of the damage came while Atlanta was putting the game away after intercepting Bucs rookie Josh Freeman twice in the fourth quarter. Ryan threw TD passes of 2 yards to Justin Peelle and 12 yards to Roddy White, the latter snapping a 10-10 tie midway through the fourth quarter. He finished 23 of 35 with two interceptions.

“It was a huge win for us to finish the season off with three wins in a row,” said Ryan, who led Atlanta to 11 wins and a playoff berth as a rookie last season. “It said a lot about the guys that we have in the locker room.”

The Falcons defense also played a big hand in the win, holding Tampa Bay to just 206 yards of offense. They also held the ball for 35:29 to just 24:31 for the Bucs.

Michael Turner is sitting out the Falcons season finale against Tampa Bay, finishing 129 yards shy of his second 1,000-yard season.

Turner missed five of the Falcons’ last seven games and carried just 13 times after a Week 10 loss to Carolina. He still finished with 871 yards, averaging about 5 yards per carry, and rushed for 10 touchdowns.

Running back Derrick Ward (knee, thigh) is inactive for the Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay’s other inactives are receivers Mark Bradley, Mario Urrutia and Terrence Nunn, safety De’von Hall, tight end Ryan Purvis and tackle James Lee. Rudy Carpenter is the third quarterback.

Defensive end Jamaal Anderson, third quarterback John Parker Wilson, kicker Steve Hauschka, receiver Troy Bergeron, fullback Verron Haynes, safety Charlie Peprah and defensive tackle Thomas Johnson are inactive for Atlanta.