How Falcons rookie James Pearce Jr. is helping spark an attitude adjustment

New York Times

3 days ago

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons talked loudly and publicly this offseason about their desire to add more edge rushers. What they talked about more quietly among themselves was their need to add more actual edge, as in the sort of feistiness and fight that was too often lacking on defense last season.
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'All the really great football players that I have been around, they have edge,' coach Raheem Morris said. 'Part of us becoming what we want to be is acquiring players with some natural edge. There's going to be some violence and physicality that's going to be required to be a part of this football team.'
Enter James Pearce Jr., the rookie edge rusher who has been all over the field through the first four days of training camp practices, including in the middle of two fights that delayed Sunday's practice but also added some energy that was missing at times from the 2024 Falcons.
'Defenses are supposed to be known as ferocious, violent, all the strong words that you can use, so when you can add a little bit of edge the right way, obviously we are always looking for guys like that,' outside linebackers coach Jacquies Smith said. 'He's been proving it.'
Pearce was marked off the draft boards of multiple league teams because of attitude concerns, two league sources told The Athletic, but the Falcons spent extra time researching his background and were convinced enough of his character to trade back into the first round to take him with the 26th pick. The team has been happy with the early results of its decision.
'He's as prideful as it gets,' defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. 'He wants to come out here and make a strong impression on everybody, himself included, that he can do this and do this at a high level. When every ounce of your body is trying to prove who you are, it can get a little wacky sometimes. His anger got the best of him at times, and it's going to be a great learning experience for him.'
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In the span of three plays on Sunday, Pearce had to be separated from offensive linemen Matthew Bergeron and Kaleb McGary as teammates swirled around them. Bergeron was especially heated, yelling at the rookie angrily as other Falcons got between the two.
'I'm not going to say James was completely innocent,' Morris said. 'He has his ways of getting under people's skin, and our offensive line has their way of dealing with it.'
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Bergeron said he considers the matter dealt with.
'It stays on the field,' he said. 'We love each other in the locker room. I'm not worried about that. We talked it out, and everything is great. James is a great player. He's disruptive. When you have a bunch of passionate players, things like that happen. It's a physical game. We're playing football. Sometimes the tempers go up.'
Pearce 'is going to help us win some games,' Bergeron said.
'I'm glad James is on our side,' he said. 'I remember being a rookie. You don't want to let anyone step on your toes, and I respect that. I think he's going to be a great player, and he's going to make a lot of plays.'
Ulbrich praised Pearce for refocusing and making several plays after the Sunday skirmishes. On Tuesday, the team's first full practice after the fights, Pearce received his heaviest workload of camp and drew a holding call on left tackle Jake Matthews that negated a touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to running back Bijan Robinson.
'He's a baller,' Penix said. 'Can't wait to see him on Sundays. He's been making a lot of plays. He brings intensity every day.'
Edge rusher Leonard Floyd, a nine-year veteran who joined the Falcons as a free agent this offseason, was the first player to come to Pearce's aid in the fights.
'I learned that from Aaron Donald when I was in L.A.,' Floyd said. 'You have to ride for your guys on defense. Even if he's in the wrong, you have to ride for him. I saw a whole lot of white jerseys and his one little black jersey, so I ran over there to defend him.'
The rookie is on the right path so far, Floyd said.
'He's a good dude, he comes out and works hard,' he said. 'The (offensive) linemen don't like it when a guy works hard, so that's a good thing.'
Actually, offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford said, 'We love it.'
'It's like guys driving in NASCAR, you want to take it to the limit as close as you can get to the wall without crashing,' he said. 'That's what we have to learn.'
Even some of the offensive skill-position players enjoyed it.
'I love seeing the boys going at it,' wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud said. 'It shows the fire. I told the DBs, as long as y'all don't jump in, we're good. We'll let those big boys tussle it out, and we'll see y'all next play.'
Ulbrich, too, liked the idea behind the intensity if not the final result. He wants his players 'right to that point to where we want to throw a punch, but we don't,' he said.
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Hiring Ulbrich in the offseason to replace the fired Jimmy Lake was part of Morris' plan to overhaul the defense's attitude and results. The Falcons finished 23rd in points allowed (24.9) and 29th in defensive DVOA.
'We're trying to develop a culture, a style of play, and part of that is the violence with which we play and the aggression and urgency,' Ulbrich said.
Ulbrich spent the last four seasons as defensive coordinator of the New York Jets.
'Brick definitely brings a standard with him,' defensive lineman Zach Harrison said. 'You feel that at practice for sure.'
Even quarterback Kirk Cousins has noticed.
'There's a little bit of that culture in that coaching tree. I really like it,' Cousins said. 'It brings a lot of energy. I think you are going to feel that intensity every day in practice because they don't pick their spots. They're going to be that way all the time. They are going to have their hair on fire.'
Initially, Cousins wasn't sure if the talk of the new demeanor was just talk, but he's become a believer a week into practice.
'Sometimes on the offense, you kind of roll your eyes. It feels a little JV and a little rah-rah, but I have to be honest, I think it's the way to go,' he said. 'I think it elevates people and brings out the best in them.'
All the talk that comes across as 'rah-rah' is part of the evolution of a change, Morris said.
'It becomes authentic. It becomes who they are,' he said. 'It becomes contagious throughout the building. I can already feel that edge.'
Second-year defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro, who will have a bigger role this year after the departure of Grady Jarrett, is happy to be part of the attitude adjustment. He said he 'really loved' the Sunday shoving matches.
'It makes practice more fun,' he said. 'Everybody is talking more mess. I'm going to talk mess. I love it. That's what great teams are about, knowing you can get chippy, but still be in the locker room and be one team.'
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Sunday's extracurriculars led to a delay long enough that Atlanta had to cancel a short portion at the end of the day's practice meant to give some of the developmental players more work.
'If we would have had something like that and lost control and had to cancel practice, those are things we don't want to do,' Morris said. 'You don't want to waste time or waste reps for other people. We need those people to care for each other enough to realize that.'
The Falcons have joint practices against the Tennessee Titans in two weeks and will have to make sure they learn to stay on the right side of their edge before that, Morris said.
'When those things happen in the joint practices with people you don't know, it can become more personal,' he said. 'Those types of behaviors won't be as easily controlled.'
(Photo of Jerry Gray, left, and James Pearce Jr.: Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)