In our exclusive interview, the ex-Atlanta Falcons coach discusses his former team's exciting offence, Micah Parsons' contract stand-off and some under-the-radar players.
Visit Betway’s NFL betting page.
When looking at the Atlanta Falcons’ preseason preparations, which players have you been impressed with so far?
Well, most Falcons fans right now are really excited about Michael Penix Jr. and rightly so. He’s been the talk of the radio stations, TV shows and everybody’s talking about what Penix Jr. is going to do.
He had an opportunity to come in and play last year as a rookie, the last three games, and he really did a nice job.
There’s a lot of pressure on Michael. He’s been a very successful college player and we’re all hoping that will translate to the NFL.
I’m excited, not only about having an opportunity to watch this young man play the quarterback position, but I’m also excited because he’s got a bunch of people around him on the offensive side of the football that are really good players.
He’s a guy that I think will be able to distribute the ball to the playmakers. He’s got a real strong supporting cast, starting with Drake London who had a great season last year with 100 catches, 9 touchdowns and over 1,200 yards. He’s primed to have a big, big season in my opinion.
Then they’ve got Ray-Ray McCloud III, who is really making some noise in training camp right now.
Darnell Mooney is their speed guy and he can get down the field. Last year he had 5 touchdowns, 64 catches and nearly a thousand yards.
Those guys should be his favorite targets, but they won’t be his only targets. They’ve loaded up.
They’ve got Kyle Pitts, who’s not really played up to the level that everybody has expected. But I’ve talked to some people in Atlanta and they’re really excited about his offseason. He’s really done a good job in the offseason.
So, they’ve got the pieces around Penix Jr. on the offensive side of the football, it’s going to be fun to watch them.
And we’ve not even talked about Bijan Robinson yet who had over 1,400 rushing yards with 14 touchdowns last year. The Falcons put a load on his back last year, and he was absolutely fine with it.
Offensively, they’re going to be in every game because they’re going to be able to score points and they’re going to be able to build leads.
The ability to run the football with Bijan means they’re going to be able to control the clock and let their young and changed defense mature early on in the season because that’s going to be a big question mark. The defensive side of the football.
They’ve got a new Defensive Coordinator in Jeff Ulbrich who was in Atlanta prior to going to the New York Jets and a new Defensive Line Coach too in Nate Ollie. So, there’s going to be a chance for them to come up and play some good football, but they’ve got to get better up front.
Last year, the Falcons were 31st in the league with 31 total sacks. For context, the Denver Broncos, who led the league, had 63 sacks. So, they’ve got to get better at rushing the passer, and they have addressed that, and they have put a lot of resources into that over the offseason.
They have addressed that in the draft with the first four picks that they that they took.
They took James Pearce Jr. He’s been a star of training camp so far. They love his motor and his production. He’s disruptive. He’s got a great attitude and they’re really excited about him.
They got Jalon Walker too from Georgia. He’s the guy who has got the skillset to be a really good player. We’ve just got to get him healthy through the training camps as he’s missed some time.
We’ve got to make sure that he gets on the field and he gets in there when the games count because with those two guys on the edge, you have the potential to have not only a guy rushing in the quarterback’s face, but another guy that’s got the same type of skill set rushing from the other side. So, I think they’ve got a chance to be pretty good on defense.
But I’m really excited about what they’re doing on the offensive side of the ball.
What did you make of the Falcons selecting Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. back-to-back in the first round?
It was a bold move to move back into the first round to get a player that plays in the same position.
That says a couple of things. One, you didn’t like what you had on your roster last year. two, it says that you are definitely going to prioritize defense first and foremost and that you’re going to work to put more pressure on the quarterback.
If you give NFL quarterbacks, especially the top-level quarterbacks in the NFL, an opportunity to sit in the pocket, they will dominate you.
You have got to have those guys that can put pressure on the quarterback. And that’s why I think the Falcons went in the right direction by selecting Walker and Pearce Jr. back-to-back.
They also drafted two promising safeties in Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman Jr.
So, their first four picks off the board were defensive players. This, combined with a new Defensive Coordinator, and a new Defensive Line Coach shows that they want to get some new energy going, especially when it comes to pressuring the quarterback.
Based on their draft and offseason moves, it’s easy to read what the Falcons thought they need to get better at and that’s the defensive side of the ball. And they’ve taken steps to address this throughout the offseason.
Micah Parsons is currently in a contract dispute with Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. How big of a mistake could it be to let him go?
It would be one of the biggest mistakes ever made in the history of the NFL, in my opinion.
But it doesn’t matter because Micah Parsons isn’t going anywhere.
It’s a contract dispute right now. There are so many things going on. I’ve heard different ways to describe it. Some are calling it a soft hold-out or a hold-in. So, we’ve got two new terms in the NFL this year and they’re both because of Micah Parsons.
Look, Micah Parsons is an absolute game wrecker. When I say game wrecker, it means that the opposing offence better know where this guy lines up on every snap, because at any moment he’s capable of making a play that will wreck your entire offensive game plan.
He occasionally lines up in different spots and the Cowboys try to move him around.
But as an opposing offense, you better know where he’s lined up.
I promise you the first thing that the opposition quarterback is going to do is to find out where Parsons is aligned and they’re going to make sure that they’ve got a protection plan that will try to eliminate him. But you can’t eliminate him. This guy has been productive from day one.
He’s a guy that last year had only 12 sacks but that’s because he missed four games. He’s had 52.5 sacks in his four-year career.
He was Defensive Rookie of the Year. He’s a two-time first team All Pro and every year that he’s been in the league, he’s been a Pro Bowl player.
This guy’s a great player. He’s not leaving Dallas. There’s no possible way.
This is just part of the business that happens when you get into talking about new contracts and especially when you’re talking about the first to the second contract which is the case here as he’s on his rookie contract. He’s set to earn $24 million this year and that’s the final year of his five-year contract that he signed in 2021.
He wants a new contract before his rookie contract expires so there’s a lot of things at play.
The tough thing with this soft hold-out or hold-in is that he’s got back tightness. As a coach, when a guy says he’s got back tightness, there’s really no way that you know how serious that back tightness is. It is very difficult to diagnose.
He’s going to be the highest paid pass rusher in this next cycle. T.J. Watt just signed a $41 million per year deal and Myles Garrett said he wanted to get traded and he ended up staying when the Cleveland Browns offered him $40 million per year. Those things happen and I don’t blame Parsons for trying to get more money.
Watt, Garrett, Danielle Hunter, Maxx Crosby and Nick Bosa are currently the top five edge rushers when it comes to salary. They may have better career statistics than Parsons but only Garrett has had more sacks since 2022, and we can’t forget Parsons is still only 26 years old too. So, Parsons will definitely be the top paid pass rusher once this is figured out.
He’s going to get signed by the Dallas Cowboys. They’re not going to let that guy leave the building.
Jerry Jones and his staff will make sure that he’s ready to go against the Philadelphia Eagles on opening week.
He is going to be playing for the Dallas Cowboys this season and for a number of seasons after, as long as he stays healthy.
What have you made of Shedeur Sanders’ preseason so far, including his debut in which he threw for two touchdowns?
He had an outstanding first impression. I tell players all the time you only have one opportunity at a first impression, and his first preseason game was great.
He came out and completed 61% of his throws, had 138 passing yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. I felt he looked like he was prepared, and he was poised, and those are the two traits that you have to have to play football and play the quarterback position in the NFL.
You’ve got to be able to be prepared, and you must be poised because a lot of things are going to get thrown at you, especially at the quarterback position.
It didn’t look like the moment was too big for him. In my opinion, it was a great first impression and I know people talk about him more than any fifth-round pick ever, but he seemed comfortable out there.
Now I know that he’s got an issue going on right now with his oblique and that is a tough thing to deal with. Especially when you’re at the quarterback position, you use your obliques on all your throwing motions.
But he’ll be fine, and I think that the young man has got a good chance to be a very successful player in the NFL.
I’ve heard nothing but great things about him as a teammate. Great guy. Always upbeat. That’s how you want your leader to be.
You look back at the draft and you scratch your head because somebody missed.
I’m excited to see him have an opportunity to play in the NFL. People will always have knocks on him and he is undersized, but he did it at the highest level in college where he showed great leadership skills. Those are the intangibles that you want to have in a starting quarterback, and I think he has those.
Cam Newton has made headlines recently after stating Jalen Hurts is not a top 10 quarterback and this led to a debate between fans on who is a better quarterback. As someone who coached against Newton, who would you rather have under centre, Newton or Hurts, and why?
It’s hard to say who I would rather have. Some people would say it’s the same era, but I would say Cam Newton played in a different era. He’s one of the first quarterbacks who came in and started to really run at the quarterback position. He’s done so many things and was just a tremendous player.
But Cam is an NFL analyst now. He’s the commentator for ESPN. He needs to make statements like that. It’s part of his job to give his opinion on NFL topics that spark discussions. Now, this sparked some discussions, especially in Philadelphia.
But where did Jalen Hurts play college ball before Oklahoma? Alabama. Where did Cam Newton play his college ball? Auburn. Now, my daughter graduated from Auburn. She hates Alabama so that could also be a reason behind Cam’s statement too.
Those statements are the kind that get clicks really quick.
It’s completely different when you start looking at what Newton did because he was a great player in college and then in the NFL. Don’t get me wrong, he was extremely hard to defend, and he was difficult to get on the ground.
He led Auburn to a national championship and won the Heisman Trophy. In the NFL, he was MVP and NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He was a three-time Pro Bowler, and he holds the NFL record for the most rushing touchdowns in league history for a quarterback, which is unbelievable. That resume is unbelievable.
Now he’s talking about Jalen Hurts saying that he’s not a top ten quarterback right now, but he just led his team to a Super Bowl win. I find that really interesting.
When it’s time, Cam should get Hall of Fame discussions. Not just because of his statistics but because of the way he revolutionized the quarterback position. But how can a guy who has constantly been in the playoffs with a 6-3 postseason record, won a Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP not be a top 10 quarterback in the NFL? That doesn’t make sense to me.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Desmond Watson is still currently deemed too heavy to debut this preseason. If you were HC or DC, would you have handled this situation the same way or would you have tried to give the rookie some reps?
This is not a situation that happens very often in the NFL. It’s a situation that I think everybody has to have some concerns.
I have coached on teams and have had players that have had weight issues and if they’re well over like Watson seems to be, then the Bucs are doing what they think is right and best for the player.
Through the years, I’ve had situations where players haven’t come in as light as we wanted them to be. Some people will take it the wrong way and say they felt like he would be a better player at that weight. That’s not necessarily the case.
It’s for the player’s safety. And I think that’s one of the things that the NFL has done a great job of recently is player safety and they understand all the things that can happen to the players when they put them on those lists where they’re not able to participate.
There’s a reason that they think that he should not be participating and, in this case, even though it isn’t an injury, it’s still a medical reason.
As a Head Coach, you don’t want to talk about those things. You shouldn’t talk about those things just like you don’t want to talk about injuries, but some things just become newsworthy.
The Buccaneers will have a plan for Watson, and they’ve got him on the non-football injury list until he is ready in their mind to get on the field. They’re doing that for the betterment of the player and making sure that the player is going to have an opportunity to succeed and become a member of the team.
Right now, we’re still at 90 players on a team and that will go down to 53 once roster cuts happen but you also have practice squad spots too.
When it comes to player health though, I think it should be something that’s done in private and not talked about in in the media.
Could Watson be a useful player to the Bucs if he did cut down his weight?
I got the chance to see him play a couple of times. As a run stopper, he’s a guy that you’d want to be able to play in a two-gap. He’s pretty explosive and can get up the field.
But we’re talking about a guy that didn’t get drafted so, he didn’t have a grade high enough to be to be drafted. When you start talking about undrafted free agents, there’s a reason that they’re a free agent sometimes.
But I wish the young man the best and hope he gets an opportunity to fulfil his dream of being an NFL player.
How have you assessed first overall pick Cam Ward’s work in preseason and training camps so far? Has he made a good first impression in Tennessee?
When it comes to young quarterbacks making the transition from college football to professional football, it takes time.
Some quarterbacks have a quicker path to starting. For example, when we drafted Matt Ryan third overall, we felt like he had not only the skillset but the mental makeup to be a starting quarterback from day one. We tried to surround the young quarterback with good players too, which was key.
Cam Ward, obviously, was the consensus number one overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. There’s no doubt about it, so there are already a lot of people that think he has the skillset, including me.
The guys who are picked number one overall usually have a lot of ability, which he does, but they often end up going to a team which at that very moment is not very good. So, it’s a double-edged sword. You’re going to a team that usually isn’t good as a quarterback which is the most scrutinized position in sports.
Ward is in that type of situation. He is the guy who is on a team that struggled mightily. They weren’t very good, and they needed quarterback help. Looking at Ward’s game, he has a chance to be a very good NFL player for the long term, but it’s going to take time.
The Titans need to get better around him as he grows as an NFL quarterback. When you make that commitment of taking a guy that high in the draft, you better have a plan of how you’re going to put people around him to give him the chance to play better.
They’re already in a good position. Brian Callahan is an NFL-lifer. His dad, Bill Callahan, was an NFL-lifer too. He’s got the staff around him that’s going to be able to help Ward with that maturation process.
Ward played well in his first preseason game against Tampa Bay. He was unlucky though as he was on the receiving end of a couple of dropped passes.
But that can happen in the preseason, and you can’t make conclusions or rash judgements based on the statistics of a preseason game because you’re not playing your team, you’re heavily rotating guys in and out.
I think he will be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. All he needs is a little time and he’ll be fine.
The Titans and their fans shouldn’t get to a point where they’re making conclusions on Ward after his first game or his first four games. It takes time to become part of the NFL and understand how the game is played, how it is officiated and everything else at this level.
I think Coach Callahan is really excited about how he started out in his first game and how he has performed in training camp. There will be a lot of pressure on him, but that comes with the territory of being the number one overall pick.
Are there any other under the radar players around the league which have impressed you so far during preseason and training camp?
I don’t know how they keep doing it, but it looks like the Kansas City Chiefs got themselves a player at the wide receiver position in Jason Brownlee. He might not be a rookie, but he’s been making some wow plays almost every day in camp.
He’s got a real good chance to make the 53-man roster. They’ve already got a pretty deep room in Kansas City with Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown but he has a chance to make that roster and that would be so impressive.
Arguably the most impressive thing I’ve seen this preseason though was from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ second-year kicker Cam Little, when he hit that 70-yard field goal.
That is unheard of and is one of the most impressive NFL feats I’ve seen achieved. Unfortunately, it was in the preseason so it’s not going to go down in the record books, but a 70-yard field goal is still extremely impressive.
If I was the coach and had a guy that could kick 70-yard field goals, I’d feel really comfortable.
We want to score every time we get the ball. Well, if you have a guy who can kick 70-yard field goals, that’s going to help you score some points almost every time you have the football as you won’t have to drive too far down the field.
Should Los Angeles Rams fans be concerned about the time Matthew Stafford has had to miss with a back injury?
Any time your starting quarterback has an injury of any kind, whether it’s a hangnail or paper cut, there’s reason to have concern.
And I would definitely say there’s reason for concern here, especially with it being a back injury.
From people I’ve talked with, this has been lingering issue that’s been going on for a long, long time in his back and he’s been managing it through the years. But it’s kept him on the sideline for much of training camp.
The good news is Matthew doesn’t need a whole lot of time in training camp. He’s done it long enough. He’ll be able to step in there and go if he’s healthy. But back issues, especially at the quarterback position, can hinder the way that you perform.
They’re doing everything that they can. He’s getting medical treatment, including epidural injections, but you have to be careful with the number of epidural injections a player receives.
He’s been very limited in his workouts. I know that Sean McVay is going to have him ready to go. And if it means giving up practice time and just getting mental reps, they might be ok with that.
They need Matthew on the field. He is a big piece of the success that they’ve had in the last few years.
McVay is very progressive, and Stafford is getting all of the medical attention that he needs. But, when you get to be his age at 37 years old and you have back issues, some fans might start questioning whether he is going to be able to make it through 17 games with very little practice time with the first team.
As well as getting Matthew to full health, the Rams should be focusing on preparing the next guy as there’s a chance Stafford misses some time this season. The next guys are Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett out of Georgia. They’ll most likely have to lean on Garoppolo if Stafford does miss time as he has more NFL experience than Stetson.
Do you feel like the Kansas City Chiefs are being underestimated too much ahead of the 2025 NFL Season?
NFL fans may be underestimating the Chiefs, but I don’t think they’re getting underestimated by the teams that they’re going to have to play this year.
When you’re playing the Chiefs, you’re playing against a future first ballot Hall of Fame coach in Andy Reid. He puts together a fantastic coaching staff. That coaching staff from top to bottom is as good as any in the NFL and I think people just get tired of saying the Chiefs are going to win, that’s why it might seem like they are being counted out.
But I promise you, the 17 games that they’re playing this season in the regular season, their opponents are not very excited about having to go and play against the Chiefs.
They are going to be at the top if they stay healthy, and they’re going to be in conversation when we get to week 17 and start moving into the playoffs.
These guys, they figured it out. Over the last five years, they’ve cracked the code and become one of the most dominant teams in NFL history. They were going for a three-peat this past year and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if the Chiefs were right back in the same situation as they were last year and that’s playing for a Super Bowl.
I would not underestimate them one bit. I know Andy’s excited about his team, but Andy’s excited all the time about his team and it’s great that he still has this excitement even after all these years of coaching.
This is a team that when it’s time to go, they go. It’s fun to watch them on all phases. Defensively they do a great job with what Steve Spagnuolo does. Offensively, there’s not a more innovative guy than Andy Reid. It’s a great combination.
Then you throw in what they’ve done with their personnel and the way that they develop players on offence. They don’t have the same roster every year, they have a lot of churn in in their roster, and I think it’s because they’re always trying to improve and get better.
As well as counting the Chiefs out, do you think Patrick Mahomes is being underestimated by some NFL fans?
I would not bet against Patrick Mahomes. He’s got it.
He’s a guy that can single handedly take over a game.
If he’s got to run the football and scramble to make plays, he can do it.
If he’s got to dink and dunk because the defense is taking the deep ball away, he’ll do it.
Then you have Coach Reid who is probably the best in the history of the NFL when it comes to calling games. So, that doesn’t sound like a team or quarterback to me that should be counted out.
They may have lost the Super Bowl last season to the Eagles, but they still went 15-2 during the regular season and were going for a three-peat which is unprecedented in the NFL.
They’ll keep doing what they do, Coach Reid doesn’t talk a whole lot, he just wants to coach football, and I definitely wouldn’t be betting against him, Mahomes or the Chiefs.
As things stand, which team would you say is the strongest heading into the season and why?
I feel good about Kansas City for all the reasons that we just talked about. But there’s several other teams that have a chance to win the Super Bowl.
It’s pretty evident that there’s four or five teams that you have to be excited about. The Philadelphia Eagles will have a lot of confidence in repeating which is not done very often.
I’m a big fan of the Buffalo Bills organization right now with what they’ve done over the last few years. Same thing with the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay has done a great job too.
Then you have the Detroit Lions who have made a lot of noise in the last couple of years.
My favorite right now, prior to the season kicking off is the Kansas City Chiefs though. I just can’t look past them. They’re still the team to beat.
On the NFC side, I just really like what Detroit’s done. They’ll have to overcome the loss of Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson, but it would be great to see the Lions get a chance to play for a Super Bowl.
Is there a team who didn’t make the NFL Playoffs last season you think could surprise fans this year?
I’m excited about what Atlanta has done. I’m real high on the quarterback Penix Jr.
I think they’ve got the running back, they’ve got the tight end, they’ve got receivers. If I had any question about them on the offensive side of the ball, it would be can they hold up and win the line of scrimmage. But they’re excited about their offensive line.
I do feel good about them, and they are due. The NFL is cyclical, and they’ve done a nice job adding much needed pieces to the defensive side of the football so hopefully it is their time.
If they can hold up on that side of the football, that would be perfect because on the other side of the ball, I think Michael Penix Jr. is a rising star in the in the NFL.
