ATLANTA -- He entered the game with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter to one of the more appreciative ovations of the night, his exploits at the University of Georgia never far from the top of many Falcons fans’ minds.
When the game was over, D.J. Shockley said all of the right things, but he bore the downcast look of someone who knew the sum of his preseason performances wasn’t the best it could be.
The Falcons will cut 20 players by Saturday to reach the NFL-mandated limit of 53 on their roster and few teams keep four quarterbacks.
Matt Ryan and Chris Redman, based on his NFL experience and performance in the team’s third preseason game, would appear to own the top two spots.
On Thursday, John Parker Wilson played well, completing 13 of 19 passes for 80 yards, ran twice for 5 yards and did not throw an interception or a touchdown for a rating of 76.6.
Shockley completed 2 of 6 passes for 15 yards, ran once for 4 yards and was intercepted for a 2.8 rating. For the preseason, Shockley was 10 of 26 for 109 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns.
Shockley also was sacked twice while each of the Falcons’ quarterbacks were sacked only once.
“I think they went all right,” Shockley said of his performance. “The interception at the end is never good. It’s a timing thing that you got to get down with you and the receiver. Overall, I think we did some good things to put on film. Just a couple things here and there that prohibited us from moving the ball down field.”
Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith was asked to evaluate his quarterbacks after the game.
“I think all three of our quarterbacks did some good things,” he said. “It’s really hard to make an evaluation standing on that sideline. I have to evaluate the tape. It’s something we’ll be doing tomorrow into Saturday. We have a number of guys competing for spots on our roster.”
Smith went on to say, as he often has this preseason, that judgments will not be made based on a single game. The totality of the past few months -- from offseason team activities, to practices, to meetings to preseason games -- all will figure in any decisions.
With a star the caliber of Ryan, few NFL teams would have so much attention paid to who is the second or third quarterback.
But Shockley is special.
The North Clayton High grad led Georgia to only its second Southeastern Conference title since the end of the Herschel Walker Era and Shockley is much appreciated for the humility and grace with which he waited patiently behind David Greene -- unusual for a player of his talents -- to start for a just a single season.
He has never played in an NFL game, with fate having conspired against him in 2007 when he missed the entire season because of a knee injury. Otherwise, he might have had a chance to start in the season of Joey Harrington, Byron Leftwich and Redman.
Like Shockley, Wilson is a hero to some SEC fans, although those of Georgia’s rival Alabama.
He was a three-year starter at a school with one of college football’s most fabled traditions and set Alabama records for completions, yards and touchdowns. Last season, he guided the Crimson Tide to wins in their first 12 games only to lose in the SEC Title Game at the Georgia Dome to eventual NCAA champion Florida and then again to Utah in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Wilson said he thought the game was slowing down for him. He had a nice throw into the end zone but the pass to Robert Ferguson fell incomplete just before halftime.
“The more I get familiar with the playbook and the more I go and do it, the easier it’s going to be,” Wilson said. “It’s one thing to do it in practice, another to go out in a game. I think I started off a little shaky tonight. But I settled down as the game went on.”
He said he was a “little hyped up” and “giddy” when he first entered the game. That was evident as he was sacked on his second play from scrimmage and then scrambled for three yards on his fourth play. From there, he completed a 10-yard pass to Brian Finneran for a first down and began to calm down.
“I just took a deep breath, settled down and tried to go forth from there,” he said.
Overall, he felt confident about his play, despite his inability to lead the Falcons into the end zone. He did get the Falcons their only points and later led them inside the 20, but Jason Elam missed a 35-yard field goal.
“We were moving the ball well,” he said. “It’s a shame we didn’t score some points. As well as we were moving the ball down field, we got into position, we just couldn’t finish the drives.”
Now, it’s up to the coaches.
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-RAVENS GAME:
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more fromthe NFL.com Game Center
- GAMEDAY LIVE: Complete coverage from the AF.com team
- BLOGS: J. Michael Moore's blog posts from Sept. 3, 2009
- POLL: What are your thoughts about upcoming roster moves?
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Georgia Dome press box
- FIRST TAKE: Head Coach Mike Smith | Jerry | Ryan | Brown
- NFL NETWORK: Highlights from the Falcons final preseason game
- QUOTES: Falcons players and coaches | Ravens
- BOARDS: Talk about the Falcons loss to the Baltimore Ravens
