FanHouse Erik Coleman

The last thing the Atlanta Falcons wanted on Sunday night was to lose Brian Williams to a season-ending knee injury. But Williams landed funny in the fourth quarter of the Falcons 21-14 victory over Chicago and tore his ACL, forcing Williams to be placed on injured reserve, where he'll miss the rest of the season and require reconstructive surgery. Now, the 18th-ranked Atlanta pass defense must find a new cornerback somewhere on their roster.

"This will be an opportunity for Tye Hill, Chris Owens and Chevis Jackson", said head coach Mike Smith in a press conference Monday. Those three will compete for time in the secondary, playing alongside cornerbacks Brent Grimes and Chris Houston.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons head to Detroit to play the Lions this Saturday, August 15 for their first preseason game. The team has released a preseason depth chart to show an early glimpse at where players stand. You need to remember that the Falcons are less than two weeks into camp and the start of the regular season is still more then a month away. There are many things that can and will change between now and then.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Roddy White and his agent have been quiet during the first nine days of training camp, preferring not to comment publicly on negotiations. The holdout is over and on White's first day in camp, he's making noise.

"We'll have a lot of big, explosive plays this year out of our offense," White said after his first practice with the team.

As you can tell, White is excited to be back in camp, back with the team and back in the huddle. Head coach Mike Smith is just happy to have him back.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons finished the 2008 season ranked 24th overall in team defense allowing 347.9 yards per game. In response to this lackluster performance, the Falcons used all but one of their 2009 draft choices on the defensive unit. That's brought a lot of youth and energy to training camp this week and it's created a different kind of atmosphere.

Third-year cornerback Chris Houston answered affirmatively as to whether or not the defense has a chip on their shoulder announcing they were, "hungrier than hungry".

Rookie cornerback Chris Owens spoke about linebacker Mike Peterson's monumental ability in the locker room to get the Falcons' defensive unit fired up before practices. Peterson, along with veterans Erik Coleman and Houston, has been, "getting in our ears, especially the rookies", Owens said.

On a Falcons team that was young at a whole lot of positions, safety Lawyer Milloy was one of the few old men in the starting lineup.

But when the 2009 season rolls around, Milloy will be playing elsewhere. The Falcons have told Milloy's agent that they are not planning to offer him a contract to come back.

Erik Coleman is coming back, while Thomas DeCoud, last year's third-round pick, would seem to be the best bet to get the first shot at replacing Milloy although DeCoud seems to be a better fit at free safety than strong safety.