By John Manasso
July 29, 2010
Went out to Flowery Branch today for a media availability between 1 and 2 p.m., as some players were checking in for the start of camp tomorrow. But it turns out that the biggest news of the day happened later when 2010 first-round pick Sean Weatherspoon signed a five-year contract, as first reported by Fox's Jay Glazer.
The linebacker's signing ensures that there will be no big distractions entering the start of camp at 8:30 a.m. Last year, wide receiver Roddy White held out for a few days before earning a new deal, but in the end the holdout did not present much of a distraction. The Falcons have not had any major problems with these issues in recent years. On Wednesday, I wrote that whether the Falcons could get Weatherspoon in camp and start teaching him the defense would be one of the questions facing the team at the start of camp. Question answered.
That likely means that the focus, in terms of the major story lines for the first day of camp, will be on defensive tackle Peria Jerry, the team's 2009 first-round pick. We media types were going to speak to Jerry today but he said he would come back and talk to us later. It turns out that he returned to his home to get his stuff and wasn't back before our window of opportunity closed at 2 p.m.
Per Falcons policy, injured players are not allowed to speak to the media. Jerry was just cleared earlier in the week after injuring his knee in Week 2 of the 2009 season. The injury required surgery and ended Jerry's season. That would mean, if I'm correct, that Jerry has not spoken to the media since last September. During the Falcons' minicamp in May, ESPN.com's NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas reported that Jerry was limping noticeably.
We'll see how he does tomorrow.
