FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — In the early days of preparing to become the Atlanta Falcons' newest head coach, Kevin Stefanski sat down to study the team's 2025 offense.

Before the interview process began, Stefanski wanted to watch every offensive play from the Falcons' previous season. It took exactly three snaps for him to realize just how special Bijan Robinson was.

On second-and-6 from midfield in the Falcons' season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Michael Penix Jr. flipped a short pass to Robinson in the right flat. Robinson made a defensive back miss, followed Kyle Pitts' block downfield, then shifted into another gear, outrunning Buccaneers defenders for a 50-yard touchdown.

Yeah, Stefanski said, it didn't take long.

The now-head coach recalled that play Tuesday after Robinson reportedly agreed to terms on a contract extension that will make him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

Stefanski said securing Robinson's long-term future was something the Falcons wanted, and he's pleased to see it come together.

"We are very excited for him, excited for us," Stefanski said. "We knew throughout this whole process that it would indeed be a process, and we felt good about where we are. I think everyone understands how we feel about Bijan the person and Bijan the player."

The reported extension, coupled with Stefanski's comments, left little doubt about how highly the organization values Robinson.

That said, the Falcons will still ease Robinson back into practice after he did not participate while the contract negotiations were ongoing.

Stefanski said the discussions between Robinson and the Falcons remained "very amicable" throughout the process.

"I know what he's about," Stefanski said, "and he knows what we're about, so we're very happy."

Still, Robinson is eager — "beyond eager," as Stefanski put it — to get back on the field.

"On that note," Stefanski explained, "we will slowly get him back in there. He won't be full go. We won't let him go. We will have a plan here in the next week to ramp him up."

Stefanski had previously said he planned to play the Falcons' starters in the team's first preseason game next week, but Robinson's status will depend on how his workload progresses over the coming days.

"I think it is important that we do have a plan, and I feel really good about that and ramping him up over the next few days," Stefanski said, "and then as we get to Week 1 (of the preseason), I will share with you guys what the plan is about who's playing, how much they're playing, but don't have that just yet. We need to get through the next week or so."

Notes and observations from practice

Monitoring the situation: Jalon Walker was carted off the field at the tail end of the Falcons' practice. Atlanta was working through two-minute drill simulations when he went down at the end of the play in the back field.

Players immediately took a knee while the cart came off to take Walker to the locker room.

"We understand that injuries come with the game," Tua Tagovailoa said at the end of practice. "All we can do is pray for J, and with our fingers crossed, hope that he's going to be OK and he can play with us this season."

Bijan is back: As stated in the lede of this report, Robinson returned to practice after being a non-participant through the first week of training camp. He participated in team warmups and individual drills, but was held out of team drills.

This was expected, per Stefanski, as the Falcons ramp Robinson back up.

Pads off, situations on: After putting the pads on for practice Monday, the Falcons loaded down Tuesday. League rules dictate the Falcons can't go back-to-back days in pads quite yet.

That said, Tuesday's practice was a big situational install day. As stated previously, the team's final portion of practice involved two-minute drill simulations. They went through three sessions of a two-minute drill. The fourth section was cut short after just the second play of the series when Walker went down with his injury.

The defense had a nice three-play stand in the second drill when just 23 seconds were put on the clock, with Bralen Trice crashing into the pocket on the first play. (I would have considered it a sack). A bad snap on the third play to clock it caused what coaches considered to be a fumble, so the defense won the down.

The would-be first-team offense came back out after this series and put together a couple good plays: Cooper Rush connecting with Drake London and Brian Robinson Jr. to get the ball to the 20 yard line when coaches called out the field goal team with about six seconds on the clock.

Notes on the QBs: All four quarterbacks participated in practice again Tuesday.

While Jack Strand and Rush took all of the full-team, 11-on-11, two-minute drill reps (wow, that's a mouthful), Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. each had their own portions of practice.

Penix took on the full slate of 7-on-7 work. The highlights included hitting Olamide Zaccheaus for a 15-yard grab down the left sideline, as well as a nice thread-the-needle throw in the flat to Zachariah Branch.

This period of practice ended with Penix attempting to go deep down the left sideline to rookie receiver Keelan Marion who had Cobee Bryant on his back hip. Bryant made a good play on the ball and nearly came down with it for an interception. It didn't survive the ground, though.

Tagovailoa, meanwhile, took all of the reps in the first 11-on-11 period of practice. There weren't many flashy plays to report, but was an easy install period as Tagovailoa worked the ball into the hands of his playmakers.

Notes on the non-QBs: In fact, the most notable part of this period was the rotations happening everywhere but the quarterback position.

Again, the Falcons found a three-man rotation with Michael Jerrell, Brandon Walton and Ethan Onianwa at right tackle. Wanya Morris returned to practice after missing the back half of Monday's practice. He ran primarily in his regular spot with the second team at left tackle.

DeMarcco Hellams took all of the starting safety reps Tuesday alongside Xavier Watts. Jessie Bates III did not participate in practice but was on the sideline watching with a hat on, same as Kendal Daniels.

Avieon Terrell continued to get a handful of plays as the nickel with the first team. Like Monday, he ran as a nickel with the first team and moved to outside corner with the second team immediately after.

A big special teams session: Before practice wrapped with the two-minute drills, the Falcons went through a lengthy special teams period in which they used the JUGS machine for punt.

For the first time, the team had a rather large quantity of players acting as return men for this period of practice. Olamide Zaccheaus, Zachariah Branch and Dylan Drummond were still in the rotation, but Brian Robinson Jr., Vinny Anthony IV, Tyler Goodson, Cash Jones, Antwane Wells Jr. and Keelan Marion all took a couple reps during the period, too.