Post by Guvmintcheeze on Oct 31, 2014 17:36:44 GMT
Falcons rookie James Stone hopes to be rock solid moving forward
It was far from a flawless first start for James Stone, but the Atlanta Falcons center had reason to hold his head high.
Last Sunday's matchup against Ndamukong Suh and the stout Detroit Lions' front was a baptism by fire for Stone, an undrafted rookie out of Tennessee. When he looked over the film with offensive offensive line coach Mike Tice, Stone heard words like "firm in the pocket" and "good push in the run game" to describe his play, although Pro Football Focus gave Stone a minus-1.2 grade in run blocking for the game.
"He just really harped on me to continue to focus on my technique," Stone said of Tice's message, "just continue to stay in there and be more aware as a football player."
Stone probably also heard the phrase "don't ever do that again" in regard to the key offensive holding penalty he picked up in the late stages of the game to help the Lions overcome a 21-0 deficit in a 22-21 Falcons loss.
"About that last play, there's just certain situation where you can't have an offensive penalty right there," Stone said.
But now that's behind him. It's time for Stone and the rest of the Falcons to focus on improving in the second half of the season.
The Falcons need Stone to be a solid force, despite his inexperience. Remember, the team's top two centers -- Joe Hawley and Peter Konz -- went down with season-ending ACL tears. Those injuries left Stone and guard Harland Gunn on the depth chart at center.
Stone played all 60 snaps in his first NFL start. He didn't blame his late-game blunder on fatigue.
"I don't feel like I got tired," he said. "You get emotions and stuff running in critical situations. But I don't feel like I really got tired any more than you would in any other game.
"Coach Tice said he felt like I did some good things out there; it was a game I'd be able to build on. Of course, I had mistakes out there. I had plays I could have done better that would have helped us out. But still, there were some things to build on."
Stone and the rest of the Falcons used the bye week to get away from football, at least physically. Mentally, Stone planned to remain in the trenches.
"Just getting in the books and making sure I'm good on all my calls," Stone said. "Really just being firmer in the pocket, that's really one thing I want to focus on. I have to be firmer in the middle."
Come Monday, it's back to work with preparation for next Sunday's NFC South road matchup at Tampa Bay. When the Falcons defeated the Buccaneers 56-14 in Week 3, Tampa Bay was without star Gerald McCoy. The league's highest-paid defensive tackle is now back in the lineup and prepared to give the Falcons' offensive line fits.
Stone might find himself matched with McCoy on occasion.
"That's another fantastic player, and we're going to have to game-plan and things of that nature," Stone said. "You have to have the best plan to win, going against a player of that magnitude."