Falcons starting free safety Dwight Lowery suffered his third-career concussion during Friday’s practice and the team quickly made a move to shore up their depth at the position, adding veteran Tyrell Johnson earlier today.
However, if you listen to safety William Moore, you would think the team’s depth at the position is fine – and the veteran is not tooting his own horn. Instead, Moore has been impressed with the progress of second-year defensive back Kemal Ishmael, and the two worked together extensively during Saturday’s practice.
Via ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure…
“Let me tell you something: Kemal is a heck of a player,” Moore said. “He reminds me of myself: one of the underrated guys coming into the league with not much hype. But if you watch Kemal’s ability, one day he’ll gain the attention for people to watch his ability.
“Man, he came out here this year, and I don’t know what he did in the offseason. But he came in lights out.”
Let’s take a look at some more Falcons notes…
- Falcons first-rounder Jake Matthews has impressed at camp, and NFL.com’s Gil Brandt tweets that the team was originally willing to trade up in the draft to get the offensive lineman. Luckily for Atlanta, Matthews fell to them at pick number-six.
- Falcons second-round pick Ra’Shede Hageman got in a shoving match with center Joe Hawley during practice, and the rookie ended up hurting his wrist. McClure reported that the injury was believed to be a hairline fracture, but ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio says the player doesn’t have any broken bones.
- NFL.com reporters Ian Rapoport and Gregg Rosenthal agree that recently-released wideout Jonathan Baldwin would be a good fit with the Falcons (via Rapoport’s Twitter).