A Debut to Forget for Falcons Rookie Jalen Mayfield

Falcons rookie left guard Jalen Mayfield had a poor debut, but Matt Ryan is helping him through the growing pains.

Atlanta Falcons rookie offensive lineman Jalen Mayfield had a debut to forget against the Philadelphia Eagles.

To be fair, he wasn't drafted in the third round to be a starter at left guard the first week of the season.

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But that's the position he found himself in after projected starter Josh Andrews broke his hand two weeks ago at practice. Mayfield saw a lot of action early in the preseason at right tackle before cross-training at guard.

The Eagles blew out the Falcons 32-6 on Sunday, and Mayfield finished the day as the worst-graded performer on the Falcons offense by Pro Football Focus. Mayfield was realistic about his performance against the Eagles and was ready to move on.

"I thought I did some good things but there’s a lot I need to improve on," said Mayfield. "Other than that, you know, we got it out of the way and now we’re on to Tampa. I have to do everything better. There’s not one thing in my game that’s fully complete. I have to improve on everything that I do.”

As the Eagles took over the game in the second half, Mayfield thinks it was more about the Falcons mistakes than the Eagles making changes.

"I don’t think they did anything different," said Mayfield. "A lot of it came to our mental errors. We did not execute to the expectation that we had for ourselves. There’s a lot to clean up and that’s why you go back to work next week and try to correct the things you do."

Good or bad, making a first start in the NFL is a dream come true for football players, and Mayfield is no different.

"It was fun," said Mayfield. "It would’ve been a lot better if we had won the game."

Starting quarterback Matt Ryan has seen his share of poor games in his 14-year career, and he was quick to come to the defense of Mayfield after the game.

"You tell him, we've all been there," said Ryan. "I remember my second game in the league we went down to Tampa and in the first half I was like 3-of-22, something like that. It might have been uglier than that ... It happens. It's hard when you put yourself out there and you're going against good guys on the interior."

"There's a really good opportunity for him to learn from this game where he's at in terms of his technique. And that's what I tell him. We've all been in that spot. Keep pushing forward. Concentrate on technique and what you're doing in practice and focus on constant improvement."

The answer at left guard might not be coming from Andrews, either. Andrews has only started four games in his five years in the NFL. He struggled during the preseason and won the left guard job by default.

Mayfield and fellow rookie Drew Dalman could be the long-term answer at guard, but in the short term, there will be growing pains.

Mayfield will have to grow up fast, because Atlanta faces the defending Super Bowl champs next week in Tampa against the Buccaneers.