Jay Adams: What does the experience of Asante Samuel add to the defensive backfield?

Tim Lewis: Just what you said: the experience, and all that. He’s bringing 45 interceptions, 140-plus pass breakups, nine years of experience, four Pro Bowls — his resume speaks for itself. He’s a very talented player. I’ve watched him play over the course of his career and admired what he’s done from afar. Of course, I’ve never coached him before, but I’ve seen what he’s done in either games that we’ve played against him or in crossover breakdown tape that I’ve watched. He’s a good football player.

JA: You get a guy like Samuel, who’s known for his physical play, and you add him to a secondary with Dunta Robinson and William Moore, who aren’t shy in that department either. Do you see physicality being the hallmark of this secondary in 2012?

TL: Yes, I would think so. I would think any secondary that I’ve been associated with, or any team that I’ve been associated with, I think physicality is synonymous with the name on the back of the jersey and the name of the organization. This club is no different. The Atlanta Falcons have a physical defense, primarily because that’s our owner (and chairman) Arthur Blank’s mentality, that’s our general manager (Thomas Dimitroff’s) mentality and our head coach (Mike Smith’s) mentality, is tough, physical, smart, athletic football players win.

JA: After free agency and the franchise tag was settled, you ended up with a lot of continuity in the secondary. How much does that help?

TL: Tremendously. Any time you can line up a group of guys week in and week out, they start to get a feel for one another, they start to get a feel for the system. Of course, the system has changed and we’ll start to do some things different with (defensive coordinator Mike) Nolan than we’ve done in the past. It’s really a neat thing because all of the older guys are being challenged to learn new things and to really re-invent themselves inside of the system, and I think the system will allow them to make plays and I think they’re all excited about it. I think they’re starting to see that a bit now. They’re all enthused and I think that enthusiasm is going to carry over to, hopefully, productivity during the season. It is refreshing to see them run around with a smile on their face, energized and challenged. I think the challenge is what they’re looking forward to — learning something new, fitting into it, watching it work for them. Any time that you’ve got a defense or a system that the players are comfortable with and having fun with, they have a tendency to go faster. That’s what we’re excited about.

JA: I know a big part of the offseason for you is evaluating the previous season. What were your big takeaways from 2011?

TL: Well, the big takeaway was that we were good, but not good enough. We played well at times. We were not overly consistent all the time, but by the same token, there was some light at the end of the tunnel. Moving forward, what you try to do is you try to evaluate where you’ve been, like we did, and at the same time, trying to prepare for the new year. I think all the steps that we’ve taken thus far, either in free agency or the draft, have put us on track to get better than we were before. That’s what our overall goal is: to get better and move forward, and never letting the last play, so-to-speak, hold us back from the next play. Just like in golf, the next shot is the most important shot, and that’s what we’ve done. So this coming year is even more important than the last.

JA: Obviously, the attention is going to be on Brent Grimes, Asante Samuel and Dunta Robinson, but you’ve got good, young talent in Dominique Franks and Chris Owens. What’s your assessment of where they are in their respective careers?

TL: They’ve moved forward. Everybody has. I think they’ve all gotten better, and I think the addition of Asante will continue to help the level of all of boats, so-to-speak, rise. The bottom line is, we’ve added another talented player and all of them will look to see what he’s done or what he’s doing and hopefully, they can assimilate some of the techniques that he brings to the table and some of the moves and so forth that he brings into their games. He’ll help everyone. He’ll help me as a coach, and I’ll learn just as much from him as he’ll learn from me, and I think that’s a good thing. I’m excited about watching the young guys watch his work ethic, watch his technique, and they can all pick something up from him, but I do like the progress of where those two young guys (Franks and Owens) are and I’m excited about watching them continue to grow.

Jay Adams: You’ve got a couple of new faces and plenty of familiar faces in your position group. Where do you see things standing as you head into training camp?

Gerald Brown: The tailback position is pretty much what it was last year with Mike (Turner), Jason Snelling and Jacquizz (Rodgers), and then we’ve got some other guys that are competing — Dimitri (Nance), Antone (Smith), (Robbie) Frey — so the tailback position is pretty much intact. The fullback position, (Mike) Cox came in and from the Indy game on (last season) as our starting fullback. We drafted Bradie Ewing, who we feel good about, so I think we have good, healthy competition at the fullback position, and that’s what we want. We want guys competing and fighting to win jobs, and I think that’s where we are right now.

JA: The offensive system has yet to be fully revealed, but offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has said enough that the screen game will be more of a part of the offense this year. How does that change what you do on a daily basis with the running backs?

GB: It’s just part of what we do; it’s just that we’ll do more of it. Some of the techniques and how we do things may be a little different, but we’ve had screens in the system. We just didn’t get to them as much. This year, I think there’s a commitment to them, so our backs just have got to be prepared to handle all the adjustments off of our screen game.

JA: You lose a veteran in Ovie Mughelli and gain, like you said, a rookie in Bradie Ewing. Just from their looks, it seems like they have two different styles. With his background at Wisconsin, Ewing seems like he can be a versatile threat in the passing game. What’s your assessment of what he’s going to be able to bring to that position?

GB: Bradie runs well. He catches the ball well out of the backfield, but a lot of the things that he had done at Wisconsin are things that we do here. It’s the same type of blocking scheme and that type of thing, so that’s beneficial to him, as well. I think you find out a lot about that position once you put the pads on, but right now where he is, I think he’s moving along well for us. He understands the offense. He’s doing things that we ask our fullback to do, so we’re excited about having him here with us.

JA: Michael Turner is 30 years old, but he’s in a unique situation in that, because of becoming a starting running back later in his career, he hasn’t taken the same number of hits as the average 30-year-old running back. What do you see as his ability to produce coming up in 2012? Can a 30-year-old running back with less mileage still produce at a high level?

GB: Oh, I think absolutely, Mike Turner can produce. What he’s done over the last four years is pretty amazing. Right now, where we are and where he is physically, he looks as good to me right now as he has ever looked from a physical standpoint. He’s running the ball well and he’s doing things well in practice, but we’ve talked about the load that he’s carried over the last four years. We know we have to monitor that because we want him to be strong at the end of the year. At the same time, we’re trying to win ballgames, but we feel good about Jason Snelling and Jacquizz Rodgers, and when Michael’s not in there, it’s OK. Give them the ball, whether we’re running or passing, and let’s just run the offense. I think we’ll be in good shape there.

JA: You mentioned Quizz, and he’s a guy that fans are really excited about. Knowing him a year now, what differences have you noticed in him this year?

GB: I think the thing that surprised the staff most last year was not having an offseason program and the Jacquizz coming in and contributing as much as he did throughout the season. Mike had most of the workload, but Jacquizz can run our two-minute, he can run our no-huddle attack, he can run our offense and it’s just a compliment to him that he can come in and learn it. He’s a smart kid, he’s a physical kid and he certainly has the ability to make plays, so this offseason is beneficial for him because he missed it last year, as it is for everybody, but he stepped up last year and was a big-time contributor for us.

Jay Adams: How do you feel things are shaping up for you on the special teams side of things as we head into training camp?

Keith Armstrong: Good. It’s just that time of year when you’re trying to build a foundation, work on fundamentals, reteach some things for the older guys and the new guys need to, obviously, learn our verbiage, learn our technique and learn our scheme. I think we’ve got that accomplished.

JA: How much different is this offseason compared to last year as far as what you do? I know you need to look at all of the rookies and see which ones might be able to earn a spot on special teams.

KA: Well, the biggest thing is you at least get to break everything down and teach it in small parts before you put it all together, so you can go part-whole-and then back to part, whereas in the past, last year, obviously, we had to go right into the play itself. There was no time to teach technique, so you were doing that on the run and correcting it as you were putting in schemes, so obviously a big advantage for us fundamentally, technique-wise and training young guys, because they haven’t covered kicks in a year or two out of college, some of them, and getting them back on track, so it’s obviously big for us to have OTAs and minicamp.

JA: How do you feel about having to replace Eric Weems, and it seems like you’ve got a couple of guys on the roster right now who can take over the return duties?

KA: Yeah, somebody’s gotta be the returner, so that’s the approach I have to take. Whoever it is will step up. We’ve obviously got all the names and all that type of stuff, but we have to get the pads on and let it play itself out.

JA: You get a reliable guy in Matt Bryant coming back. Does having him take away a little worry for you at all?

KA: No, I think what happens is, every kick’s different. You have to approach every year different. We start all over again and you can’t assume, so we’re going back to ground zero and build the foundation and work our way back up. Hopefully, we’ll have the same success we’ve had in the past. We’re not going to assume that we’ve got an automatic kicker. We’ve got to work it, we’ve got to build it — he knows that. That’s the way he is. There are no guarantees in this league. You get what you earn, so he’s working his tail off and doing a hell of a job.

JA: What do you expect out of the progression of Matt Bosher in Year 2?

KA: You’d like to see him start off with the same consistency that he finished the season with. I think he will grow. He’s become more knowledgable about his profession. He’s done a nice job here in the offseason with his work, so I think he’s preparing himself, because he wants to avoid a slow start. He would have liked to avoid a slow start last year, but he suffered the most from the lack of OTAs and minicamp because we knew there were some things that we needed to address with him, but by the rules, we couldn’t get to him, we couldn’t address his issues, so we had to do it during the season. Obviously, when you touch the ball, your flaws become more glaring. Being a punter or a young quarterback, you’re going to face those issues early.

Jay Adams: You’ve been here a few months. What’s your assessment of the talent you have been working with on the offensive line?

Pat Hill: I like the group I’m working with. I think they’re highly intelligent. My job, like I told them, isn’t to come in here and split the atom. These guys have a lot of plays and a lot of schemes and they understand them very well. My deal that I want to do is I just want to keep working on fundamentals. I’m a great believer in fundamentals. This is a league where everybody runs a lot of the same stuff. The ones that have the edge are the ones that execute it the best. It’s the same thing on the offensive like. We just want to keep working on our fundamentals, get better at our footwork, get better at the understanding of the fundamentals that it takes to win. The run game, the pass game, the screen game — whatever it may be, if we get better at fundamentals, it increases your confidence.

JA: The left tackle position is one that a lot of fans are going to be paying attention to. Do you see that as a position battle that will drag on throughout training camp?

PH: You can’t get anything out of playing in shorts and T-shirts now, and that’s the great thing about pro football. We get a training camp and four practice games. In college, you don’t get that. Here, there’s a lot of time to sort that out. There’s a lot of things that are going to happen between now and September 9 in Kansas City. It’s going to be very competitive. It’s going to be great competition. My belief is I want to get the best five on the field, wherever they may fit.

JA: The Draft was kind to you in that you get Peter Konz and Lamar Holmes with the first two picks the Falcons had in 2012. Obviously, you haven’t seen Lamar out on the field yet (as he recovers from a foot injury), but what are your impressions of Konz’s abilities?

PH: Peter Konz comes from a program that runs a pro-style-type offense, so he’s familiar with inside zone, outside zone, the power run game, so the run game is very familiar. Their pass protection, there’s some similarity. You know, the difference is, like I used to tell my guys at Fresno, too — we ran a pro-style offense and a lot of our kids were able to move on — we’re basic math in college. We don’t go into all the details that happen at the pro level. The pro level, it’s a lot more sophisticated — you have the basics and then it’s an add-on game. The great thing is, though, for Peter is he’s coming out of a program where he has the basics. Now we can add on a lot easier. The guys that come out of some of these programs that are spread and maybe one- or two-protections or maybe two- or three-runs, all shotgun — there’s a lot more involved in that teaching, so Peter comes from a very strong program as far as fundamentals and basics. He had a great line coach in college I know very well (Bob Bostad) , who’s now in Tampa Bay with Greg Schiano, so he’s got a real good head start. The hardest part is, you’ve got to change the chip. The words are now different. If we all had the universal chip where all the blocks were the same and the plays were the same, it’d be a lot easier game, but everybody’s got different names for things. Same thing with me. For example, 62, 63 protection was a lot different for me than 62, 63 is here. It takes me a while to snap into the new chips, so we’re all learning a new language, but he’s picking it up fast.

JA: The big buzz this offseason has been “Protect Matt Ryan.” What do you see as the things that need to occur between now and the first game against Kansas City in order to ensure that happens?

PH: Fundamental work. I term it as being a swing coach. Tiger Woods has got a swing coach, who works with him on the same swing every day, over and over. Pass protection is learning how to get into a groove and having belief in your fundamentals. There are going to be times when you get beat, but when you get beat, you can’t get away from your fundamentals. You’ve got to step back, clap it off and come back and fundamentally get strong again. That’s the hardest thing about protection, because in the heat of battle, you’re going to get beat once in a while. It’s not going to be perfect every time. How can you snap back and get ready for the next play and put that beside you? There’s some times when even the great golfers have a bad shot every once in a while. We’re gonna have some bad shots, and when we have a bad shot, how do we recover and get to the next one. That’s what I’m concerned about.

JA: You inherit a guy here who seems like he’d be a gem for a new coach at any position in Todd McClure, who has seen his share of turnover in his NFL career. How much do you lean on a guy like that when you, yourself, are learning as much as the players you’re teaching?

PH: He’s a true pro. That guy’s got a wealth of knowledge. I’ll admit: as a new guy coming in — in the NFL, the more familiar you are with the personnel, the better you are. I don’t have a familiarity with any of the defensive personnel. When I was (the offensive line coach) in Cleveland, after one year, I knew the personnel in the league. I forced myself and said, ‘When I’m here, I’ve got to learn the personnel.’ So, right now, when we’re getting ready for a game plan, the first question you’ve got to ask is: Can you handle this guy? What kind of guy is this? Heck, I’m fine with that, just as long as we get it done as a joint effort, and when you’ve got a guy like Todd McClure and Tyson Clabo and JB (Justin Blalock) and those guys that have been through the wars, anything they can contribute, you’d be a fool not to listen.

Terry Robiskie: Obviously, it’s still early in the game for him, and I don’t ever know what a ceiling is or to put a ceiling on somebody, but he has got the potential to be a really good football player for us, and we expect him to be. The more he’s in the game, the better he’s going to get, but this is going to be his second year in the NFL. The system is not changing that much so, of course, he’ll be a better football player for us. We expect him to be a better player and we’re looking forward to it.

JA: How much is having a year under his belt going to help him out?

TR: It’s going to help him a lot. Obviously, he knows that. Forget the football aspect of it — just the conditioning, coming to training camp prepared, the toll he’s going to put on his body as far as what he needs to do to get his body ready, to know what he’s got to put his body through to get ready and to come to camp and be ready to go and to know what it’s going to take to get through that 20 weeks. Just that phase of it is a plus for him.

JA: Harry Douglas is fully recovered from that 2009 knee injury. What’s it going to take for him to take that next step toward fitting into and excelling at the No. 3 wide receiver position?

TR: I think, as the year got going and got better and better, Harry got better and better. Every day, he’s getting better. He’s getting healthier. Harry’s just got to go play. We’ve got to keep Harry in the game. We’ve got to keep putting him in the game. We’ve got to keep having things come up for him. I think back to New Orleans here last year. Harry had a big game for us (eight receptions, 133 yards). The Minnesota game, Harry had a big game for us (two catches, 45 yards, one touchdown). The only thing Harry can do — and the only thing we can do for Harry — to become a better football player is to keep playing. Let him go. Let him keep going. Harry’s the same thing as Julio. He’s got another year under his belt. He’s got another year of his body getting stronger, getting healthier. Harry’s just got to keep going. Harry will be fine.

JA: You lose Eric Weems in the offseason. Everyone remembers him as a special teams guy, but some of that continuity is lost from the wide receiving corps. Certainly, it’s a spot you’ll have to fill. How do you view the No. 5 spot right now, and is that a battle you see going all the way through training camp?

TR: I think it’s going to go all the way through camp. I think it’s a battle that’s going to go all the way through the preseason. Like you said, it’s a spot we’ve got to fill, but it’s a tough spot. It isn’t a spot that you can fill relatively easy. As you know, Eric Weems was in the Pro Bowl two years ago for us and was a valuable part of it, so we hate to lose him but hey, that’s the business we’re in. You can’t keep them all. You can’t have them all. We’ve got to find someone who can step up and be Eric Weems. Somebody here was Eric Weems before Eric Weems, so we’ve got to have somebody that wants to step up with the group I have. Somebody’s got to step up and say, “Hey, Coach. Eric Weems left. I know what he did, I know the contribution he made and what a good player he was. Coach, I want that job.” Whichever one of my guys is going to do that through… training camp and preseason games, he’ll be the guy that’ll have that spot.

JA: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Roddy White. You’ve been around him for a while. From the time you came in until now, what have you seen that’s really allowed him to establish himself as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL?

TR: His work habits. I think when I first got here (in 2008), the first week, month — whatever that was — Roddy was Roddy. He had his way of doing things. He had his way of coming to work, doing his work and going home. I think, over the years, that we’ve changed that. That first year I got here, I had to go to his house and sit down with him. We had a nice sit-down conversation and I explained to him, he’s got his way of doing things and I’ve got mine. We’ll do it my way until we figure out that my way don’t work. We did. As you obviously know, Roddy has gone on to play in four Pro Bowls in a row. He’s got a sense that I know a little bit of what I’m talking about and doing it a little bit the way I say to do it, it’s got a chance of working. Now I’ve just got to get him out of them Pro Bowls and get him into a Super Bowl. That’s the next phase of it: What do we have to do now to get him into that part of it?

Jay Adams: A lot of the talk this offseason has been about the idea that Matt Ryan has really bulked up and spent some significant time in the weight room. Have you noticed a change in him?

Glenn Thomas: Yeah, that has been an emphasis for him. It isn’t something necessarily that we have put on him personally. I think he feels that he would play good at a little heavier weight. Maybe from an endurance standpoint throughout the season, he’ll be able to hold up and take some of the hits and move around, maybe break a tackle here and there might benefit him. There’s some credibility to it increasing arm strength with a little bit of added bulk, but from what we see right now, he’s throwing it well. He’s always thrown it well — we know that — so that’s not the issue, but (strength) is an emphasis for him. When he gets his mind set on something, that’s what he’s going to do. As long as he feels like he’s comfortable with that weight and can play productively at that weight, then it sounds good to me.

JA: A lot of people don’t know that you’ve been in the building ever since Matt stepped foot into team headquarters. In this new position, how much does that continuity help both of you?

GT: Oh, I think it’s been huge. Hopefully, it’s helped (offensive coordinator) Dirk (Koetter) with the transition to the new offense. We talk the same language. We can revert back to years past — plays, situations. That helps Matt connect to a new scheme. Up in the meetings, Dirk’s like, “Well, how did we do this in years past? How do we coach this? What are the teaching points?” and I think (the continuity) makes that transition a little smoother that I know the coaching points and what Matt’s thinking, what he’s used to seeing, what he’s used to reacting to.

JA: How much does what you do change with the new position with, of course, the added responsibility of overseeing a position group, but also with a new offensive coordinator?

GT: I think that’s probably a big part of what my responsibility is: How do I convey to Dirk what Matt’s expecting, what he’s thinking, what he likes, what he’s good at? I think that’s a big part of what is expected of me being here for the last few years. It seems to be that it has been helpful to Dirk. It has been helpful in the transition. Dirk’s been great with the fact that he’s just removed himself a little bit and let me go and when he has something to interject, he interjects and we’ve worked good like that.

JA: Chris Redman has obviously been around the team for a while now. John Parker Wilson seems like he’s coming into a make-or-break time as far as competing for the No. 2 spot. How do you view both of those guys today?

GT: As you know, those guys have been together for several years now, so the room itself is awesome. Anything goes. They’re going to crack on each other and have fun and all that, but they’re supportive of each other. They understand the situation. Everybody’s trying to get reps and so forth. They’re playing good. Schematically, they’re helping each other for what to see — “If you make a mistake here, this is what I saw” — so they’re both, JP and Red, doing a good job of being supportive of each other, and they’ve been playing good.

JA: And how are you handling the fact that Chris Redman (born Aug. 7, 1977) is older than you (born Sept. 22, 1977)?

GT: (Laughs) Well, I’ll tell you, JP and Matt take care of that for the most part. Yeah, they probably give a daily reminder to Red that he is older and he’s got me by a couple of months. They take care of the dirty work for me.

Jay Adams: Let’s start out with Sean Weatherspoon. He’s a guy, when he was brought in, that is turning into what he was meant to be. Have you seen a major progression in him since his rookie year?

Glenn Pires: Yeah, I think he’s a guy that, as he gets more experience and more reps and experiences different things, he really learns. He’s a one-time guy. He gets it one time and he’s off and running. His assets are his speed — he’s an explosive guy — and once he gets it, he gets it. In terms of what you’re saying, yes, because every time we get a new play, a new experience, a new route, he learns it — bang! — and now he’s rolling.

JA: Without Mike Peterson in the mix and with Curtis Lofton leaving in the offseason, do you see Sean stepping up more as a vocal leader?

GP: Yeah, and I think he had that last year, too. I think we could definitely feel that a year ago, but the good news is, now it’s other guys, as well. It’s not just him. Now it’s Akeem Dent, Robert James, Spencer Adkins, Lofa Tatupu — all those guys are now going to come together and they’re going to see Sean as a leader at some point, but they’re a good group. They all work together.

JA: Because you’ve got such a young group as a whole, does that make Lofa Tatupu’s experience that much more valuable?

GP: I think so, yeah. And he’s really embraced that. He’s a great guy. He’s like a coach on the sideline and he knows the value of helping everybody. That’s going to make everyone better. He’s a good, good veteran that way.

JA: The battle between Lofa and Akeem for the middle linebacker spot is going to be a fun one to watch. Do you see that going through camp?

GP: It’s going to be one, and I think it’s going to be a very healthy battle. We’ve got two quality guys. We’ve got two team guys, and however it goes, they’re going to work together through the whole process, and that’s what’s very healthy about it.

JA: You evaded it all year last year and even had the group chase you through the locker room, so the question is: Will we see you on D-Block this year?

GP: Well, I’m doing this interview with you now, which is probably one of the last ones you’re going to have for the whole year, so I like to be low key (laughing). My theory is to let them do all the talking.

Jay Adams: During these stages of the offseason, do you get a sense of where things stand at the positions as we head into training camp?

Dirk Koetter: One of Coach Smith’s main goals of minicamp and OTAs is to expose the team to everything they’re going to see in training camp, so they don’t have anything that they’re surprised by in training camp. I think ‘mission: accomplished’ on that. We exposed them to all the drills we’re going to use, all the situations we’re going to use, plays for situations, plays against different defenses — so from that standpoint, they’re progressing as they should be.

JA: When Coach Smith first approached you about the offensive coordinator position here, what did you think about the talent you’d have to work with?

DK: Well, from afar, obviously, it’s impressive. At Jacksonville, we had played Atlanta in the preseason. We had scrimmaged against Atlanta the last two years. At that time, I was probably more familiar with the personnel on defense than I was on offense, but I was impressed with the talent.

JA: You get a veteran quarterback in Matt Ryan, who has really progressed over the past few years. Now that you’ve been here a few months, what’s your assessment of where he is in his career?

DK: The thing that jumps out at me is Matt’s experience. He’s been game-tested, so he knows how fast things have to happen. You don’t have to go through that as you would, say, a rookie quarterback, and then Matt’s work ethic and leadership are the things that really jump out at me. He obviously has the skills to be here, or he wouldn’t be here, but the way he works on the field and off the field, in the classroom and in the weight room, and then his leadership — the way he sets the tone with the guys on offense — is what really jumps out at me.

JA: When you’ve got a combination like Roddy White and Julio Jones, does that change anything? Do you ever go back to the drawing board and figure something out just for them?

DK: Sure, it would be tempting to do that, but the defensive coordinators in the NFL, every play that’s ever been run, you’ve got guys that have seen it all — Mike Nolan on our staff, Coach Smith when he was a defensive coordinator. I think the thing, when you have top-flight receivers like we do, is that you don’t have to say it’s about trickery; it’s about execution, and when you have good guys, you just need to go out and be able to execute. It doesn’t have to be tricky plays, but basic plays, you’ve got guys that can win one-on-one.

JA: Throughout your pro career and college career, you’ve never been shy about putting points up on the board. The Falcons have, at times, dealt with stalling out in the red zone in recent years. What’s your approach to red-zone scoring and getting the ball where it obviously needs to be?

DK: In the NFL, if you follow it, when you get in the red zone, offensively your goal is to get 60 percent touchdowns inside the red zone. If you do that, you’re going to be top 5 in the NFL in touchdown scoring percentage. You’re not going to be able to score every time, but once you get down there, you want to finish with touchdowns, not settle for field goals, not turn it over. Your approach, your philosophy, building up to that, the plays that you use to attack the defenses that are up that week — that’s what you’re looking for: to try to have touchdowns on Sunday.

Jay Adams: Free agency was kind to you in that you got John Abraham and Kroy Biermann back. What does it mean to have those two guys back in the fold for you?

Ray Hamilton: Quite a bit. Those are our two best defensive end athletes. John Abraham is obviously one of the best pass rushers in the history of the game, and Biermann is one of our up-and-coming guys. Both athletic guys, both help our team in a lot of ways, so we’re very happy to have them back.

JA: You also add a new guy in Jonathan Massaquoi in the 2012 NFL Draft. In the early stages, what do you think of him?

RH: He’s a very quick and explosive guy. He shows the pass-rush ability that we thought he had when we saw him at Troy, but he’s picking up things. Rookies heads swim a little bit because there’s so much going on, but he’s showed a good ability to pick up what we’re putting in. He’s smart enough, but very quick, very athletic, very explosive.

JA: The last couple of years, you’ve had some very good defensive tackles to work with. The core group of guys you have in the middle, what’s your assessment of where they are and what they bring to the table?

RH: Of course, the rookies, we haven’t seen them in pads yet. That’s the big thing for them. Our guys coming back, (Jonathan) Babineaux was a little bit hurt last year. He’s going to be fine this year. Corey (Peters) has been just really, really good. He’s just a really solid player for us. I thought last year, Vance Walker got better and Peria Jerry got better. We’ve got four guys in our core that I think are on the uprise. Now, the new guys we have — (Travian) Robertson and (Micanor) Regis, from Miami — those guys are bigger guys than what we’ve had around, but we’ve only seen them without pads so far, so hopefully, that size and girth and strength — they look big, they look strong, they can move — so hopefully, that will help us in there. It’s all about competition. We compete every day, every play, and that’s what we have those guys in here for.

JA: Fans have really kept an eye on Lawrence Sidbury and Cliff Matthews, two young guys with a lot of potential. What do you see as the next steps for them in their careers?

RH: Obviously, they have to get better. Sidbury has to come in and show that he’s improved from last year. Matthews didn’t play at all last year, but he’s a big, strong, physical, tough guy that we hope will make some big strides and be competitive again this year for us.

Jay Adams: In the earlier stages of the offseason, what are some of the things you look for out of your players and how much was that time used to acquaint yourself with the personnel you’ve got to work with?

Mike Nolan: First off, what I’d like to see out of them is a lot of energy, and there is energy. There’s always excitement, I think, in a new system. Outside of that, the thing I think that both groups — the players and the coaches — are always working on at this time is trust in one another. The players are working on the trust around them, and so are the coaches. It’s kind of a deep topic, but at the same time, that’s going on 24/7. If the guys can really trust the things around them and the scheme, it helps them be a good player, which is what they’re learning right now. They buy into it a little bit more. At some point, hopefully they take ownership of it and then it really takes off, but in these early stages, you’re just trying to get them to learn the system, learn the language and in the process, build a lot of trust and accountability among all the players.

JA: I’ve heard a couple of veteran players remark already that they’re able to get your system down to the point where they’re able to play it fast. How much, as a player, does feeling confident in a system go into playing in a way that is almost instinctual?

MN: I think it’s really key. It’s vital to being really good. There’s a lot of good schemes in the NFL, but if the guys don’t execute it fast and they’re thinking about it and all that stuff, then you might have a good bag of tricks but it’s not working because there’s too much thinking going on. You have to get it to the point where, first off, you have to simplify the teaching. You can’t have 10 different words for the same thing and you can’t have words mean absolutely nothing. There has to be that to play fast, so I’d like to think it’s that, but again, it’s a process. There’s some things we play faster than other right now because they’ve done them maybe before, but there’s some new things we need to play fast that, in the process, that’s really our goal through all these OTAs and training camp and minicamp. To be honest with you, some teams don’t gel until the middle of the season. I’ve been a part of those several times and that’s just the way it is. But as we all know, we’re trying to finish the race good as much as start it, but the finish is the important thing. But I think you can get to that point a lot quicker — what I mean is get to that experience, play fast, play quick — if it’s easy to learn and we’re teaching it right, they’re studying it, learning it and we have good players.

JA: How would you describe your personel style on coaching pro athletes as someone who has been around them for most of your life?

MN: Coaching is parenting. It really is, and if the players know you love them and you’re trying to give them the best, you can have any style you want. But if they know you love them, they pretty much buy what you’re giving them, but if they think you’re selfish or if they think what you’re doing is covering your own tail and they see you don’t support them and things like that, they don’t buy it. I don’t care how nice you are, how mean you are, how loud you are, how quiet you are. I think young people really see that, so in my opinion, they’ve got to know you care but that’s not one day, two days — that’s a process. It’s no different than us with the players. There’s certain players I feel I can trust better than others. They all have their different personalities, but I’ve got to know that they’re buying in so I can give them more, and if they’re not, then I’ve got to know why it is. If it’s my fault they’re not buying in or a coach’s fault, we’ve got to get that corrected, meaning if that guy doesn’t trust that coach, then something’s not gelling on that thing. Like I said, coaching is parenting, in my opinion, 100 percent, and they need to know you love them. I’ve seen guys just cuss players unmercifully and think, ‘Oh, my God,’ but the player just knows it’s a bunch of hot air and they know that coach supports them and loves them, and they buy it so it doesn’t bother them. But I’ve seen some other guys use some language and they kind of go, ‘Hey, Coach, you’re not going to do that to me,’ so it has to do with the relationship between the two. That’s one thing all my year’s have taught me and that’s really true.

JA: You said back when you were hired by the Falcons that you’d rather have 10 guys with four sacks than four guys with 10 sacks. How do you put players in the position to have that kind of success across the board, and do you feel like you have the personnel here to do that?

MN: I don’t know. That’s something I can’t answer. That’s one of the things that, while they’re learning about me, I’m learning about them, too. But I’ll take either one. That’s what scheme’s all about. Scheme is second; players are first, and the scheme you use needs to utilize your players. Some guys can pressure and you want to use them; some guys aren’t very good blitzers. Some guys are better at covering, some guys are better at man — everybody has a bit of a strength, and if you stick them all in a box and say they can or can’t do this or that, that can be a mistake also, so it’s real important that you identify guys properly and the better you do that, and the better you do using the scheme, which is nothing more than a bunch of tools, then you put together a pretty good deal. Like I’ve said, it’s a process all the time. There’s things I feel better about today than I did two months ago, but in two months from now, I should feel a little bit better, as well. I’m hoping, anyhow, as long as the guys stay the same. Injuries and a lot of stuff comes into play, but it’s a process and it’s fun. They learn and get better, and so do we.

JA: Sean Weatherspoon in his first two years has really come a long way. In your short time that you’ve been around him, what do you see as the ceiling for him and how much more growing does he have left to do?

MN: He’s a good player now, but he could be a lot better than he is. And he will be. No question, because he loves football and he’s exciting to watch and he’s a play-maker, for all those reasons. But he’s done well, but he can still do a lot better. I’m not just saying that because that’s the blanket statement for people, but as I’m watching him, he’s got a lot of upside, so as much good as you’ve seen, he’s got a lot of good in there going forward. Primarily, what I see is a guy who just loves to play, but in the new system, he’s still trying to learn the language and things like that, so there’s some way to go, but he’ll find it very friendly and I think he already does see, down the road, how exciting it can be in this system, because a lot of guys have benefitted from it. He’s got what it takes to get there. It takes a little bit of time, but like I said, he’s already a good player. It’s one thing when a guy’s not very good and you’re just hoping to get him to the point where he can just get on the field. He’s already on the field and he’s been a good player, so you’re just looking for him to make some strides where he can be a guy that, in some cases, wins the game for you.

The man who kick started all last week was cornerback Asante Samuel, whom the Falcons traded for with the Philadelphia Eagles for a pick in last week’s draft. With Samuel comes a big, productive past, big expectations and a big persona, as he explained in five exclusive questions with AtlantaFalcons.com after the trade was announced.

Jay Adams: When you look at the roster that you’ve got here in Atlanta — and not just on the defensive side of the ball — you’ve got Tony Gonzalez, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White; the list goes on. What do you think of when you look at the guys who are now your teammates?

Asante Samuel: Man, it’s nothing but talent. Nothing but a bunch of talent that’s in an organization that fits well and knows what it’s doing. Like I say, I think we’re just one or two plays away from the big one. You’ve got all the guys that’s playing at a very high talent level. They’re real young, real explosive. Matt Ryan’s coming into his fifth year. It’s coming together.

JA: You’ve been on a couple of teams around the league now. What can you bring to the Falcons that you took from those locker rooms?

AS: Experience. I think I’ve probably had about five, six, seven different defensive coordinators, so I don’t think there’s a defense out there I haven’t played, whether it’s defensive scheme or position. I have my way of how I like to do things to make plays, so that’s what I bring to the table. Whatever they ask me to play, I’ve got to make plays. That’s what I’m going to bring to the table.

JA: You spoke during your conference call with the Atlanta media about working with Brent Grimes and Dunta Robinson, and you mentioned trying to become the best secondary that’s out there. When you look at the three names — Asante Samuel, Brent Grimes and Dunta Robinson — on paper, how excited do you get at the level of talent that’s around you just in the secondary?

AS: It’s very exciting. I just came from the same type of situation. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out, but I feel like it’s a little different. It’s me coming into a different situation. Like I said, I’ve been with about seven different defensive coordinators, different defenses. I’m a quick learner and I can’t do anything but come in there with confidence, figure out the way to make plays in the defense and spread that word around.

JA: You come in with an impressive resume of winning with Philadelphia and New England. What does coming in with a winning past add to your game?

AS: I think the most I bring is knowing how to win, expressing winning and how important it is to win. I think it’s all the things I went through when we were winning that I learned and saw, I just can apply. I bring the confidence of a winner.

JA: How do you plan on going about building a rapport with your new teammates?

AS: First of all, you don’t come off like a bad apple. You come in humble. You come in ready to learn, not like you know everything. That’s the way you come in. Everybody respects that. You definitely have your confidence, but I think that takes care of itself. Real recognize real, and I’m a real dude. You can’t do nothing but respect that.

Last week, he spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of his circumstances at this year’s draft during his pre-draft press conference and later expounded on some of those points when I had a chance to speak with him one-on-one.

Here are my five questions with him:

Jay Adams: You’ve said before that this is your season. Head coach Mike Smith has fall and winter, but the spring is really when you do the bulk of your work. In that context, what’s the draft for you?

Thomas Dimitroff: Having been a scout all my career and then moving into management with a scouting background, this is our one game a year that we have. The focus continues to build, build and build until, obviously, up to when the draft starts and through the draft. So there’s this excitement that continues to build, and the idea of improving a team to hopefully help us break through that door that Arthur Blank referred to — we’re knocking on the door, we haven’t broken through yet — that’s one of those things that always provides motivation for me and I know Mike Smith, as co-team builder. We have a very adept scouting staff led by Dave Caldwell, our personnel director, and Lionel Vital, our associate personnel director, as well as the rest of our staff, who are very, very in tune. We have a very focused staff and they provide all the information that we need to get us ready for our final decisions, because, in the very end, it comes down to myself and Mike Smith as per the player we’re going to pick at 55 or 84 or 157. It’s a one-game season for us on the personnel side and there are a lot of pressures there and in inordinate amount of time and research that goes into picking these players. I would say that, when the draft is over, it’s honestly like finishing a season of football because there’s a lot of work that goes into it.

JA: We looked at the draft retention numbers recently and the numbers you’ve been able to amass in that category are certainly striking. This year was really, for all intents and purposes, a chance to re-sign your first draft class and you brought a good amount back. For a player being drafted by the Falcons, how much of a commitment should they view their selection as?

TD: It’s a huge commitment, Jay. Obviously — let’s call it the way it is — it may be descending from the first pick to your final pick. The commitment is going to be that much stronger at the front end of the draft. That said, everyone we take in the draft, we are committing to and we are giving them every opportunity to make the football team, and that’s very important to us. As you mentioned earlier, we’re very encouraged and proud of our retention rate because it’s something we feel very strongly about. When you’re building a football team and you’re attempting to be fiscally responsible, that’s an important thing. It’s also bringing certain players through your system, year in and year out, so that you can truly create the type of player that you want to sign to not only a second contract, but potentially a third. If, as an organization, your scouting staff and your personnel people have done all the research in the proper manner, I feel that we all in the league should have very sound retention rates because that’s where we spend millions and millions of dollars, researching and scouting players to come into our team. Obviously, there are situations — be it injuries or other unfortunate situations that occur — from organization to organization where they don’t re-sign a player or they lose a player or, quite honestly, a blunder or a bust happens. Quite honestly, that can happen. We understand that. It’s part of it. It’s not an exact science. What you can do is be as thoughtful, as acute in your focus and as well-researched as possible at so many levels to eliminate the uncertainties going into the draft, and that’s what I feel our staff has done a fine job with in the four seasons we’ve been here.

JA: Fans always have an idea of what they consider needs coming into any particular year, but as an NFL GM, how do you go about determining what the needs actually are, or are not?

TD: We have conversations with our scouting and our coaching staff, some together with the scouts and coaches, some separate, some with Mike Smith, myself and our coordinators, some with our owner. There are countless discussions and meetings to determine where our weaknesses may be, where we need to strengthen our depth and, in the end, we come to a consensus decision about where we truly need to pick, whether it’s in this year’s draft or whether it’s in free agency. Another part of the equation that’s not talked about that much is continuing to project into the next year’s draft or next year’s free agency, as well. You need to take the entire picture, not only this year but in years to come, so that you can determine if, in fact, you don’t acquire a certain need this year, can you acquire it in next year’s draft or next year’s group of free agency? Can you hold off a year before you address that certain need? We do categorize our needs and prioritize our needs, as well, so that will determine a lot of times what we do in the draft or free agency.

JA: A year ago at this time, we were talking about all the uncertainty that comes with picking at No. 27 overall because of all the things that could happen before you go on the clock. Of course, now we’re talking about double the number of picks before the Falcons select. You talked a little about uncertainty in you press conference, but how much does the number of picks ahead of you change your mindset?

TD: Interestingly enough, our focus has been on 55, but we make sure that we are thoroughly evaluating all the players in the top tier of the board. We all know who all those names are so we won’t go into specifics. We feel that we know them, for the most part, inside and out — at least, that’s our hope. But we are very focused on our projections about who may be there at 55 and we will put extra focus, as you can imagine, on that area. What that does is it limits the time you’re spending on the very top of the board as far as discussions and meetings, and has you focused on a different part of the board. It also has you focused on what we call our “side board,” and the bottom part of our draft board because there are so many different things that can happen at 55 that may prevent us or allow us to pick later on in the draft. Back to the uncertainties, it’s one of those things that we’re very mindful of. Our focus has been on the 55 projected players as well as the down-the-line players on the draft board that could affect what we do at 55. It sounds like a puzzle, and it is.

JA: With the draft being three days now, it’s a marathon and it’s constant. I imagine it’s got to be crazy for you. When you get to Day 3 and you get into the sixth and seventh rounds, how do you keep from letting the monotony get to you?

TD: The monotony of what you may feel in the media or the fanbase may feel waiting, there is so much more action going on in the war room and in our building, discussing players, watching, analyzing what’s happening, analyzing the needs from other teams that are picking before us — there’s a lot of action, whether it’s the first pick in this case at 55 all the way through the draft when we pick at 249 with our compensatory pick. There will be action. There’s not a bore. There may be a bore from some of the people that are watching the draft from the backseats, but when you’re involved and it is about building your team and you’re very particular about every draft pick, there’s no monotony there for us.