Former Ravens OLB Courtney Upshaw (91) is being tried at end in Falcons camp. Photo Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Former Baltimore Ravens strong-side linebacker Courtney Upshaw is getting a look at defensive end.
Upshaw, a former second-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens, is 6-feet-2 and 272 pounds.
“They are trying to figure out where they want to play me,” Upshaw said. “I’m just trying to learn every position that they want me to learn. So that I can go in there and compete.”
Upshaw, 26, started 51 games over the past four seasons. He helped the Ravens win a Super Bowl, and has amassed 183 tackles, 5.0 sacks, seven passes breakups and three forced fumbles.
The former second-round pick out of Alabama signed a one-year, $1.25 million deal with the Falcons this offseason that included a $390,000 signing bonus.
“He’s a big man so you can see just from the end of the line how hard it is to run over to his side so we’re going to put him at defensive end,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “I know he can play (strong-side) linebacker, so we’re going to try him at some defensive end this spring and see what that looks like.
“As we get closer to it we’ll navigate the roles, but now’s the time, in my opinion, to create the experiments. What you can do and see if we can have the vision for the player come to life.”
Meanwhile, Brooks Reed appears a lot lighter than the 254 pounds the Falcons have him listed at. Signed as a strong-side linebacker last season, he was slowed by a bothersome groin injury.
“The quickness is the thing that jumped out to me and it started all the way back in his offseason preparation when I saw him for the first time out in the drill work I pulled him aside and said this is the weight you should be at because it looked much quicker,” Quinn said.
INJURY UPDATE: Returner Devin Hester (ankle/foot), right guard Chris Chester (shoulder) and center James Stone (knee) did not participate in Wednesday’s practice. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (tendonitis knee), defensive end Adrian Clayborn (strained pectoral) and wide receiver Devin Fuller (hamstring) were also limited.
ON THE MOVE: CB C.J. Goodwin, a former practice squad player, was moved to cornerback from wide receiver. Goodwin, who’s 6-4 and 220 pounds, was used in practice at cornerback last season and went against star wide receiver Julio Jones.
“Guarding Julio Jones is not the easiest job on the planet,” Quinn said. “We said, ‘we might have something here.'”
Meanwhile, defensive lineman Ra’Shede Hageman is embracing his move to defensive end in the base defense. He lined up at end in the base and at tackle in the nickel package.
“We’ve liked what we’ve seen so far,” Quinn said. “We’ve moved him also to have some versatility from defensive tackle to defensive end. He’s done a good job of learning the system up to this point where he can play two different spots. Anytime you can play more than one, your value really goes up.”
NOTES: Veteran quarterback Matt Schaub took the snaps with the second string offense Wednesday as he competes with Sean Renfree and Matt Simms for the primary backup job to Matt Ryan. … RG Mike Person took the work with the first team with Chris Chester out after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. … RCB/NCB Robert Alford lined up at right cornerback with the first team’s base defense and inside in the nickel. …TE Austin Hooper wasn’t at the session because Stanford is not out of school yet.
–The Falcons announced their minicamp will run June 14-16 in Flowery Branch, with all three practices open to the public. The first two practices will begin at 2:40 p.m., with the gates opening at 2 p.m., with Thursday’s practice beginning an hour after the gates open at 10:30 a.m.
