‘A different vibe’: Amid upheaval and controversy, Raheem Morris looks to bring a new culture to Atlanta

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — There’s juice around this Atlanta Falcons team, a vibe that hasn’t hummed like this since the prime Julio Jones-Matt Ryan era, maybe not even since the Michael Vick days. There’s talent in the building, proven talent and young talent alike that has the on-paper ability to do some real damage in a still-weak NFC South. The roster alone has enough potential to put the Falcons on the must-watch list heading into the 2024 season.

Then there’s the let’s-check-out-this-train-wreck element. After Atlanta signed Kirk Cousins to a $180 million deal, then turned around and spent the No. 8 pick on Michael Penix Jr., there’s plenty of rubbernecker interest, too.

Add into this mix a motivated new head coach with experience on Super Bowl-winning staffs, and you’ve got a team reshaping itself on the fly. Granted, changing the culture of a team in the best of circumstances is like turning a cruise ship. But changing the culture of an entire team, after remaking the entire quarterback room, is a degree of difficulty akin to changing a tire while cruising down the highway.

So Raheem Morris, the new head coach, takes issue with the idea that he’s changing the entire culture of the Falcons. “The culture here is really well put-together from the top down,” Morris said Tuesday. “I’m not changing what we do when it comes to ideas, to innovating, to a people-first mentality. But we are adding to it.”

Morris prowls the entire field during Atlanta’s practices, watching and occasionally shouting as Cousins, Penix and Taylor Heinicke alternate throws to the first-team receivers. He keeps things loose off the field too; in one of his first press conferences, he joked that a reporter who showed up late would be running laps the next time it happened. At least, he seemed to be joking.

“Coaches sometimes try to go pick on somebody and they’re like, ‘Sorry, I’m not picking on you,’” safety Jessie Bates III said. “Rah’s like, ‘I am…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-05-21 19:15:29

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