The Atlanta Falcons are trying to take advantage of the opportunity.
The Atlanta Falcons are just a couple of weeks away from getting started with their 2026 season that marks the beginning of a new era for the franchise under a new head coach once again.
Before that, there will be one final preseason game at the end of this week coming up on Friday against the Miami Dolphins. In the second game against the Indianapolis Colts, starters did not play, which is not necessarily out of the ordinary for how teams operate. This does beg the question though what the plan is for Friday night and this week, and Kevin Stefanski provided some clarity as to what the plan is.
Prior to Monday's practice, Stefanski spoke and described the week and game day as a dress rehearsal for the first game of the year, meaning starters will see some time and the team is trying to attack the week just like a real game week.
Stefanski Trying to Take Advantage of Opportunity This Week
"The challenge for all of us—players and coaches—this week is the game plan aspect of it, making sure the dress rehearsal for opponent scouting procedures is where we want it," Stefanski told Falcons.com. "Coach [Jeff] Ulbrich, Coach [Tommy] Rees, Coach [Craig] Auckerman are working very hard to make sure the players are feeling a game-plan week this week."
Stefanski stopped short of revealing whether or not that means Michael Penix Jr. is going to play after he returned to practice in a full capacity for the first time in camp this week, but it sounds like the team is trying to make the entire process as realistic as possible.
He went on to reveal the plan is to install concepts specific to Miami that they may or may not actually deploy in a preseason game -- many teams do not -- but the preparation standards being refined is really the main goal of this week.
How much this means the starters actually play remains to be seen, however it still likely won't be more than a series or two as the team tries to keep everyone healthy before the start of the season.
By the sounds of it, fans should look forward to the beginning of the showdown before tracking some final roster spot battles across the second half as the season draws closer and closer.
It's almost here for Atlanta, and Stefanski as well as the whole coaching staff are preparing like it.
