FanHouse NoriakiKinoshita

Tonight, the Atlanta Falcons open their preseason in a 7:00 pm (est.) showdown with the New York Jets at Giants Stadium.

Spotlight:

After an offseason marred by controversy courtesy of Michael Vick, much of tonight's focus will be on quarterback Joey Harrington. He will make his Falcons debut this evening and in the eyes of the fans, there is little room for error. However, Harrington is excited and truly believes he can succeed in Bobby Petrino's offensive system.

"It was a bit difficult to pick up initially," said Harrington, playing for his fifth head coach in seven years, Bobby Petrino. "But now, it's great. I love it. It's by far my favorite offense I've played for in the NFL."

It's going to be interesting to see how the normally inconsistent Harrington comes out and performs in an entirely new system. He certainly has the tools for success with Joe Horn, Roddy White, Michael Jenkins and Alge Crumpler as his targets.

The Atlanta Falcons have signed wide receiver Noriaki Kinoshita out of Osaka, Japan.

Kinoshita, who happens to be a very big Falcons fan, was a standout in NFL Europe this year. He collected 909 combined net yards (second in NFLE) with the Admirals, including 21 receptions for 308 yards and two touchdowns, which was good for second on the team.

This was his second straight spectacular season. Kinoshita earned All-NFLE honors in 2006 after leading the league with 530 kick return yards.

"I'm excited to see Nori compete in training camp with us," Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino said in a statement. "We've already had stiff competition at the wide receiver position throughout our mini-camps and offseason workouts, and Nori's presence now adds more to that position. We are also interested in seeing his return skills."

He is expected to come in and immediately compete with Adam Jennings and Fred Gibson for a roster spot.

Note: It should be a thrill for Kinoshita to play with Michael Vick, who happens to be his favorite NFL player.