FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Quarterback Byron Leftwich is known for his jovial personality and sense of humor. But there was nothing funny about sitting in his mother's basement last Sunday.
Instead of playing for the Jaguars, who abruptly cut him Sept. 1 after four years as a starter, he watched games on television and fought the urge to fight his sadness and sabotage his physique with a big, home-cooked meal.
Wednesday, however, brought the trademark smile back to Leftwich's face as he took his first snaps with the Falcons, who signed him late Tuesday afternoon.
"I worked out a lot during those two weeks," Leftwich said, a hand-written nameplate and No. 4 mounted above him on his locker. "I'm just happy to be here right now."
The seventh overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft went 24-20 as a starter, threw for more than 9,000 yards and connected on 51 touchdown passes in Jacksonville. He signed with the Falcons as the No. 3 quarterback behind Chris Redman and starter Joey Harrington.
Head Coach Bobby Petrino said Wednesday Leftwich's first job will be learning the offense. He also said Harrington remains the team's No. 1 quarterback.
"Since (D.J. Shockley) got hurt we've been looking for a veteran backup," Petrino said. "I thought our personnel (department) did a good job of really researching everybody. We had a number of workouts up to this point.
"Joey is No.1 Chris is No. 2. Byron came in as No. 3. I sat down and talked with him about it. I talked to both our other quarterbacks about it. They did know we were looking for a veteran guy. We were patient and took our time and wanted to find what was the best fit."
Leftwich, admits he's a "little rusty" but is confident in his ability to pick up the Falcons' system, especially since he's reunited with quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave, who was his offensive coordinator for two seasons in Jacksonville.
Leftwich said he's not worried about the depth chart.
"I'm not even thinking like that right now," he said. "Right now I'm just thinking: 'What can I do to help this football team?' You prepare to win throughout the week. You win the game on Sunday, but you really prepare to win throughout the week."
Harrington wasn't surprised by the move.
"It's been the talk for a while they were going to bring somebody else in," added Harrington. "It wasn't a shock. They've been talking about it since training camp. It's something that has been on the docket for a while.
"Byron is the type of player that can help this team. That's what the National Football League is about -- getting wins and bringing in the players to help the team win. It doesn't distract me from what I have to do. We have to win games and I'm going to continue to study, prepare and work my butt off to do that."
The Falcons met with Leftwich early in the week to review his style of play and health. The quarterback missed 15 games over the last two seasons including 10 games in 2006 with a nagging ankle injury.
Leftwich says he's healthy. Petrino is also encouraged by the quarterback's recovery.
"His ankle is healthy which is probably my major concern," the coach said. "Now he has to learn the offense. How long it takes for him to learn it, I don't know. It's hard to do at this point in time not only to learn it but to get the reps in order to understand how it all works together. He's certainly a very intelligent young man and he's working hard at it."
Leftwich is simply happy to have work to do.
"It was a tough situation for me, period," he said of his release from the Jaguars. "I knew it might be a few weeks before I get to this situation. I wasn't surprised. I was just so anxious to get back out there and play football because every September of my whole life I've been playing football. To not be able to do that was tough on me."
