The Atlanta Falcons' defense answered back on Thursday in Westfield, Ind., putting together a sharp second day of joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts after the teams spent Wednesday working the other side of the ball. The tone shifted quickly once the defense took center stage, and the Falcons won enough snaps to make the Colts' offense work for every clean rep.
That mattered because this was not just any workout. In the teams' last meeting last season in Berlin, Germany, the Falcons gave up 512 yards of total offense, including 244 rushing yards and three touchdowns to Jonathan Taylor. On Thursday, the same defense looked far more aggressive, with Maason Smith stuffing the run on the opening play of the first 11-on-11 period and Brandon Dorlus making a couple of plays in the backfield.
The early period set the tone. A.J. Terrell won a rep against LaQuon Treadwell, Darnay Holmes stood out during the 1-on-1 session and A.J. Woods turned in what looked like a picture-perfect rep. Later, Mike Ford picked off a ball during the defensive back period, another sign that the Falcons' secondary was meeting the challenge in tight spaces where mistakes tend to show up fast.
Allen Jr. was part of that push, working in the defensive line rotation with the second- and third-team units and stringing together a six-play stretch that could earn him a longer look. The undrafted rookie out of Houston did not just survive the work; he kept showing up in the middle of it, and that is the sort of sequence coaches remember when they sort out who can hold up once the reps get stacked.
The setup also explains why Thursday carried weight. The practice included 1-on-1s, a 7-on-7 red-zone session and two full-team periods, each starting at the 25-yard line with two minutes on the clock, so there was enough structure to test both discipline and strain. The Colts line has carried a good reputation for years, which made the Falcons' ability to keep winning at the line of scrimmage harder to ignore.
There is still a catch. The Falcons' defense looked relentless on Thursday even though it was the same unit that had been pushed around in the previous meeting, and the final judgment will not come from a practice field. Jawaan Taylor, Divine Deablo and Jessie Bates III have all been back and active in some on-field work, while neither Avieon Terrell nor Billy Bowman Jr. took part in the joint practices on Thursday, leaving the Falcons with more pieces available but still not at full strength.
For now, the clearest takeaway is that Atlanta's defense used Day 2 to make the kind of impression that travels. If Allen Jr. can repeat that six-play surge and the front keeps forcing the Colts into hurried answers, the Falcons will take more than a practice victory out of Westfield; they will take evidence that this defense is starting to look like the one that can change a game when the live action arrives.
