FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons first-round draft pick James Pearce Jr., an outside linebacker, got into two major skirmishes in the third practice of training camp Sunday.
In the first battle, Pearce got into it with center Ryan Neuzil. Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd came over to help Pearce, and that seemed to trigger right guard Matthew Bergeron, who came from the other side to get a piece of Pearce.
Bergeron was hot and was yelling disparaging remarks to the rookie in the 11-on-11 period.
A few plays later, the Falcons’ offensive line double-teamed Pearce, and he and right tackle Kaleb McGary got into it, with Pearce ripping off McGary’s helmet.
“It went a little too far,” Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “We’ve got to learn how to manage that. You’re going to get agitated. Especially when you are playing really good defense, the offense is going to get agitated. You’ve got to anticipate punches being thrown. Things beings said. People getting pushed. In those moments, you’ve got to thrive and not retaliate. So it was a good lesson to be learned today.”
After a poor day at practice Saturday, the offense apparently came out ready to rumble Sunday.
Pearce was selected with the 26th overall pick in the draft. Pearce and Jalon Walker, who was selected 15th overall, were selected to help the Falcons improve their dormant pass rush.
“Don’t go past the line,” Ulbrich said. “Don’t throw the punch. Don’t retaliate. The more that we can take it there and not retaliate is when you create that style of play.”
“In the spring, he’s very calm,” Ulbrich added about Pearce. “He’s very cool. I’ve seen this other side of him now. This intensity. This edge. This fierce loyalty to his teammates … is really cool to see. To see him not only stand up for his guys today, but at the same time not take it too far.”
Pearce had clearly gotten under the skin of the offensive linemen.
“He’s prideful as it gets,” Ulbrich said. “He’s just prideful and he wants to come out here and (make) a strong impression on everybody … that he can do this and he can this at a high level.”
However, a rookie pushing things has not gone over well with the veterans.
“I think when you’re in that place of every ounce of your body is ‘Prove who you are,’ sometimes, like, it gets to that place where it can get a little wacky sometimes,” Ulbrich said. “His anger got the best of him a little bit. It’s going to be a great learning experience for him.”
Pearce rebounded later in practice from the fights.
“The really promising part of all of that exchange was after the fact. A lot of young guys are lost for practice,” Ulbrich said. “He was the opposite. He reset, came back, took a deep breath, and I think he made like three or four, like, really amazing plays after the fact. That’s promising.”
Coach Raheem Morris has said in the past that fights in practice are a waste of energy.
“You don’t want to fight,” Morris said Thursday. “Bad teams fight. It’s just the nature of the beast — the truth, right? There are going to be some energy levels. There’s going to be a learning curve. There’s a competitive juice that you’ve got to figure out that’s not meant for this practice setting. There are competitive juices that are meant for games that you can’t go above and beyond.”
Walker held out of practice
Walker, an outside linebacker, and defensive lineman Zach Harrison were held out of practice Sunday.
McGary and backup quarterback Emory Jones returned to practice Sunday after not practicing Saturday.
“They are just working on some stuff with his body, but he’s going to be all right,” Ulbrich said.
Addressing ball security
The defense forced three fumbles Saturday and had another one Sunday.
Wide receiver Drake London had the ball punched out twice Saturday. On Sunday, wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud had a ball punched out by Keith Taylor, but McCloud recovered the ball.
Wide receiver coach Ike Hilliard didn’t single out London.
“It’s everybody,” Hilliard said. “We have to protect (the football) like everybody’s life depends on it.”
The players have to get used to the ball being live after running without defenders for most of the offseason.
“Credit to the defense for finding an exit angle,” Hilliard said. “It was addressed. It will continue to be addressed. We are going to be expected to do a much better job of protecting the football going forward.”
Scouting department
Backup quarterback Easton Stick was working out over the offseason in Dallas with wide receiver D.J. Chark, whom the team signed Saturday.
He told general manger Terry Fontenot about Chark, who was his teammate last season with the Chargers.
“(Stick) had been telling us about him and how good he looked,” Fontenot said. “So we had already scheduled that workout, and it just so happened to be after (Darnell Mooney’s shoulder injury). He looked really good. … We know the type of player he is. He’s had some unfortunate injuries in his career.”
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