'Worry About Wearing White Pants': Falcons' Arthur Smith's Funny Flu Game Reference
Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith has been noticeably looser throughout the summer than year's past, letting his personality show through witty remarks and subtle interactions inside the media room at team headquarters in Flowery Branch.
Whether it's references to the looming fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg or "fining" Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter some $500 for missing the first few days of training camp, Smith has said or done many entertaining things in recent weeks.
And Monday proved no different, mentioning the need to humble reserve center Ryan Neuzil after he was featured on the team's YouTube channel while being "mic'd up" in practice.
But Smith didn't stop there; when asked about a potential illness surrounding starting center Drew Dalman, who's missed the last two days of practice, Smith dove deep into the topic - and touched on a number of different, unexpected areas.
"There's a couple of things—not to be HIPAA. You've got to take everything serious, and then you're just watching it and ... you just never know. Is he trying to act like he's having his (NBA legend Michael) Jordan flu game? Or if I've got to worry about wearing white practice pants to save him from you guys, so we don't have an accident that goes viral, maybe.
"So, a lot of things going on out there."
Smith added that starting quarterback Desmond Ridder wasn't feeling particularly well on Monday either, and he thought there was a time during seven-on-seven's where the second-year signal caller would have to leave the session ... or risk having the dreaded white-pant fears.
What else does Smith have in store? Only time will tell - but with Atlanta's third-year coach having more fun than ever before, it's quite likely he has several more gems up his sleeve.
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