ATLANTA -- Steven Jackson said every year presents new challenges and this one is unlike any that the 10-year veteran has faced. For one, it's his first with a franchise other than the St. Louis Rams. With the Atlanta Falcons, the running back has to learn a new scheme and a new offensive line. He said it's not about timing, it's about repetition. But it's also about the line blocking for Jackson and earlier in the week the Falcons lost right tackle Mike Johnson, who was leading the competition for that starting spot. In the Falcons' 34-10 loss Cincinnati in both teams' preseason opener at the Georgia Dome, Jackson finished five carries for eight yards in limited action. Jackson, who did not carry the ball after the Falcons' second offensive series, showed glimpses of what he can do but also what challenges might lie ahead with that line ahead of him, particularly the right tackle spot. Second-year player Lamar Holmes, who has played only a small handful of snaps in his career, earned the majority of the snaps there on Thursday with undrafted free agent Ryan Schraeder out of Division II Valdosta State also getting a shot right now. Jackson had two carries for four yards, one for three yards, one for no gain and a loss of three yards. Falcons head coach Mike Smith alluded to the fact that Jackson made something out of nothing on a four-yard carry on the game's first play from scrimmage. It's also worth noting the Bengals might end up having one of the league's more formidable defenses, which challenged the Falcons blockers. "I thought Steven ran hard," Smith said. "His first run had great vision. He came out the back door. The overall stats are probably not where we want them to be in running the ball … But I thought Steven did a nice job." Jackson refused to put a percentage on how far along he thinks he is in the new offense. He also said the sudden change from working all of preseason mostly with Johnson, who suffered a fractured fibula and dislocated left ankle on Tuesday, to the shift now to Holmes has not affected his transition and the development of chemistry with the line. "No, it has nothing to do with that," Jackson said. "Injuries are part of the game and if Mike was in there today, there would still be things I would see on the film that I would want to work on. I think that's what's good about the preseason. I think that's what good about film is that you get a chance to learn from different things and everything always happens differently so you have to be able to react and do it in a timely manner so I can know and anticipate it going on." Holmes played for almost a full three quarters at right tackle with Schraeder getting a couple of second-quarter series at that spot. Once the first-team came out of the game after the first three series, Schraeder mostly assumed the left tackle spot through the end of the third quarter except for those few series when he was on the right side. Smith said he did not want to evaluate those players until he saw the game film in the morning. "Some run plays we blocked well and some that we didn't," Smith said. "That's part of the evaluation in the preseason." Smith also said he did not want to base a decision on whether the Falcons will need to dip into the free-agent pool to sign a veteran right tackle after just one preseason game. Of course, general manager Thomas Dimitroff will have a lot to say about that, as well. On what otherwise proved a dismal showing on the scoreboard for the Falcons, the bright spot was that their first team outscored the Bengals' 3-0 for the limited amount of time that each was on the field. Smith thought it was a plus that the Falcons held the Bengals scoreless for that short span. While the Falcons at times experimented with a defense last season that employed three tackles, they appear to have taken it to a new level this season. They opened with those three tackles -- Peria Jerry, Corey Peters and Jonathan Babineaux -- along with end Osi Umenyiora standing up in a linebacker-type stance and Kroy Biermann, who has played end most of his career, on the opposite side playing linebacker. Essentially, that's a 3-4 alignment, different from the 4-3 that has been their norm through Smith's first five seasons. "We've got some personnel that are playing in different positions," Smith said. "We want to have as much flexibility as we possibly can." Smith also complimented the play of the two rookie cornerbacks, Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford, the team's first- and second-round picks, respectively. Trufant played some at the nickel corner and Alford, who registered two passes defended, played the left corner after the first series when starter Asante Samuel came out. Trufant said he was calm and comfortable and did not have any blown assignments. "Mentally, I was good so I have to keep adjusting physically," he said. Even Trufant left the game by the second quarter. That left the Falcons' younger players to finish out the game and they did not acquit themselves particularly well. In the third quarter, Dane Sanzenbacher returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown for Cincinnati and in the fourth quarter he caught a 36-yard pass from John Skelton to cap the scoring. "It's obvious we've got a lot of work to do with those young guys," Smith said. As much as Smith protested -- perhaps too much -- that he wanted to win the game, he said in the end that what remains the most important is the team's health. "We say it all the time guys, we want to be healthy for the first game and we're not going away from that philosophy," he said. "… But we do have things we’ve got to get accomplished for this preseason." Figuring out the right tackle situation has to sit at the top of the list.
