Falcons at Dolphins Joint Practice: 5 To Watch

Falcons fans are looking forward to the unwrapping of a new toy ... and Pitts is surely looking forward to playing against somebody with an enemy jersey.

The Atlanta Falcons are in Fort Lauderdale ready to get an overflow of work against the Miami Dolphins, with joint practices against the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday and Thursday and then Saturday's NFL preseason game No. 2 against the same foe.

"I can't tell you how excited I am about these joint practices," Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said. "It's really going to help us. There's some things you need to see in the preseason games, and really for our whole team, and then that kind of environment will be big for us."

And what exactly are those "things''? We've got three of them ...

1. STARTERS IN RHYTHM First-team guys, beginning with QB Matt Ryan, aren't going to do much in the actual games in preseason, risk/reward being what it is. So trying to simulate game action in a "safe'' setting is a top priority.

Ryan in charge. And with his offense in rhythm. That matters.

2. PASS-RUSH FOR REAL? We have a one-game sample of what new defensive coordinator Dean Pees wants to do. The first preseason-game loss to Tennessee was unremarkable in many ways. But Atlanta's blitz-frenzy approach was entertaining, and successful.

Let's see it again.

3. KYLE PITTS VS. DOLPHINS DBs Where does the prized rookie tight end line up? Will it take cornerbacks - Miami has good ones - to stick with him?

Falcons fans are looking forward to the unwrapping of a new toy ... and Pitts is surely looking forward to playing against somebody with an enemy jersey.

4. WHO IS NO. 2? A.J. McCarron not off to a good start. Rookie Feleipe Franks is only off to a good start if we evaluate him as a runner. The situation is shaky enough that here, we ponder the idea of Josh Rosen.

5. OH, NO, O-LINE! This looks like a trouble spot, as we discuss here. You know what you have in three spots, with Jake Matthews at left tackle, Matt Hennessy and center and Chris Lindstrom at right guard. But soon, in order to be cohesive, they need their five. Maybe Kaleb McGary fixes some of this. But somehow, it needs to be fixed. And it'd be nice if it gets fixed in Florida.