Even though John Abraham spent his rookie season with Mike Nolan as a member of the Jets, he doesn't know much more about the new defensive scheme that is being installed than anyone else. In fact, the veteran defensive end is leaning on his teammates to help him get adjusted and vice versa.
While Abraham and his 12 years of experience can teach any of the Falcons younger pass rushers a thing or two about pass rushing techniques, his absence for much of the OTAs during the offseason means he's learning as much as anyone else right now.
"Everyone is learning the defense so everybody is asking questions," Abraham said. "I'm asking some of the guys that were here more during the offseason than I was. Everything is going pretty good right now. Everybody's learning together, which is a good thing right since no one is teaching anyone anything, we're all learning together. We're taking small steps at a time."
What they're learning as defensive ends is the many ways Nolan's scheme calls for pass rushers to get to the quarterback. Abraham sees it as a necessary evolution of the Falcons defense, something that was needed, considering the athletes they have employed on D.
"I think we're doing more different things this year than we did last year to get to the quarterback," Abraham said. "I don't think we'll be as vanilla. That's not knocking who we had before. It's just a little bit more diverse with more people coming in the D-ends and the linebackers."
