FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Like so many Georgia school children, the Falcons went back to school this week. Their homework? Dissecting the mistakes from the preseason opener.
"We've got to continue to get better every day and I think it's important that our guys understand that," Head Coach Mike Smith said of last week's 20-17 loss at Jacksonville. "We made a lot of errors in the game last week and we want to see improvements in those areas."
The team can grade it's progress Saturday night when Indianapolis visits a renovated Georgia Dome. The Colts will be without quarterback Peyton Manning but offer offensive and defensive schemes perfect for a preseason test.
Indianapolis is 0-2 this exhibition season but has lost just 17 games in the past five seasons.
"They're very efficient in what they do," said Smith, who faced Indy twice each season as the Jaguars defensive coordinator. "We're going to get tested in the passing game and I think it will be a good test for our guys to see how we're going to handle their schemes. It's one of the best schemes in the league."
Last week's matchup proved beneficial for the Falcons, who took flight with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan leading the offense for the first time and Joey Harrington leading two scoring drives.
Harrington will start Saturday as the team rotates quarterbacks to determine a Week 1 starter. However, more eyes may be on the defense and how the team handles the Colts high-powered offense.
"We're going against a pretty good opponent," linebacker Michael Boley said. "Once you get past Peyton that whole team has a lot of offensive weapons. I think it's going to be a good thing for our defense to go against those guys."
Wide receiver Reggie Wayne put up more than 1,500 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Running back Joseph Addai rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his rookie year.
"It's always good to go up against some great receivers to test yourself and see where you are," second-year cornerback Brent Grimes said. "It will be a good experience for all of us, not just me. We're excited to play at home in front of our fans and put on a show for everybody."
Two Falcons rookies forced and recovered fumbles last week (Curtis Lofton and Kroy Biermann) but the offense struggled to score off turnovers. Some of that difficulty was a result of penalties.
"The first thing was there were entirely too many penalties," Smith said. "We had 10 offensive penalties and seven of those were procedural. We are going to kill ourselves when we get in first-and-15 or third-and-long situations. The other thing we are going to work on is we had three turnovers on the plus side of the fifty and we only came away with 10 points -- a field goal and touchdown. That is when you have the advantage and you could convert those situations into points. We kind of hurt ourselves. We didn’t have the production we would like to have when we have those types of turnovers."
Smith and his players said there won't be a detailed game plan for this week's game. That comes with the third preseason opponent. But execution and correcting miscues should be a bit easier in the friendly confines of the Dome, where many Falcons will play in a game for the first time.
Think of it as a take-home test.
"We just go out there and do what we do," new running back Michael Turner said. "Fortunately, we got the ball rolling a little bit and got some points on the board last week. We didn't come out with the win but hopefully we'll change that this week."
INJURY REPORT: Defensive end John Abraham (ankle) and cornerback David Irons (hamstring) are improving and center Todd McClure (back) practiced for a third-straight day Thursday. Smith said the team will decide their status for the game sometime Friday.
Guard Kynan Forney (knee) missed practice time Thursday. If he's unable to go Saturday Quinn Ojinnaka, who has practiced at every position along the offensive line, could take his place.
RELATED LINKS:
- COVERAGE: Click here for complete coverage of 2008 Russell Falcons Training Camp
- NOTEBOOK: Harrington to get start in Saturday's exhibition game
- VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Todd Weiner | Joey Harrington
- BIRDSEED: J. Mike reviews and comments on Falcons news
- J. MIKE'S BLOG: Harrington Named Starter for Saturday
- NOTEBOOK: Hartsock confident tight ends will fight through injury
- WEDNESDAY VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Todd McClure | Chris Houston
- TUESDAY VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Laurent Robinson | Erik Coleman
- J. MIKE'S BLOG: McClure Returns to Practice
- NOTEBOOK: Ryan pleased with first professional game
- TRANSCRIPT: Head Coach Mike Smith
- RELEASE: Falcons waive/injured tight end Listorti
- MONDAY VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Brent Grimes | Matt Ryan | Chevis Jackson | Keith Brooking
- J. MIKE'S BLOG: Loyal Leadership
- MOOKIE'S BLOG: Some Shots from the Jacksonville Game
