FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Second-to-last day of organized team activities. Temperature hovering between 90 and surface of the sun. The end of a particularly taxing workout.
No one would blame Ovie Mughelli or his Falcons teammates for hightailing it to the air-conditioned confines of the locker room.
But on this day -- like most -- Mughelli was putting in some extra-curricular work.
"It's of utmost importance," the veteran fullback said, pausing for a long drink of Gatorade. "The older you get, the more you understand how important preparation is. Winning during the season is not really what you do during the season. A lot of it is what you do right now."
If that's the case, the Falcons are piling up plenty of wins before the season starts.
It's standard practice for the team's running backs who, individually and as a group, will be called upon to carry parts of the team's offense again in 2009. The Falcons finished second in the league with 2,443 rushing yards last season. Michael Turner went to the Pro Bowl after a 1,699-yard, 17-touchdown campaign.
"Doing a little extra afterwards and a little extra before and getting my body in top shape is my main concern right now," Mughelli said.
At 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, Mughelli sports the prototypical fullback build.
And his prototypical fullback skill set contributes to the team's success.
"A fullback is known to be one of the more violent guys on the team," Mughelli said, offering an assessment of his position. "Our job is like the enforcer. In hockey, you bring out the big guy to handle business. That's what the fullback does. I have to be ready to do that and get my mind ready right now."
Mughelli expects more success in the Falcons run game in 2009 and hopes he can contribute something extra in the passing game.
In 2006, the year before he signed a free agent deal with Atlanta, Mughelli caught 21 passes for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
With the Falcons turbulent 2007 and a new offense in 2008, it's taken some time for many recent additions to get settled.
Mughelli has 14 catches for 93 yards over the past two seasons.
Now the offense is second nature. Time to get the body ready to respond.
"I'm excited about year two, especially now that coach has started to see I'm more than a blocking fullback and incorporated me into more complex blocking schemes, more run plays and more pass plays, too," he said. "The second year I can focus more on the physical part and not worry about the mental."
