ESPN: Sad News For Rams As Coach Will Now Join Rival Team For A….
The Atlanta Falcons are bringing over more than just their new head coach from the Los Angeles Rams.
In one of the first hires for new Falcons coach Raheem Morris, he is tabbing Zac Robinson to be the team’s offensive coordinator, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Robinson, 37, had been the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the Rams for the past two seasons as he worked his way up the coaching ranks there.
The former NFL and Oklahoma State quarterback had spent his entire coaching career with the Rams, starting as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019, becoming the assistant receivers coach in 2020 and again working as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2021 before his promotion to passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022.
Among the skill position players Robinson will have to work with are running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, wide receiver Drake London and tight ends Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith, who are all under contract for 2024. All five of the team’s starting offensive linemen from last season also are under contract, including Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom.
The question for Robinson will be at quarterback. Atlanta has both of last season’s starters, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke, under contract for 2024. However, one of the reasons the Falcons fired Arthur Smith after three seasons was the play of the quarterbacks, which team owner Arthur Blank called “deficient.”
Robinson has worked with Matthew Stafford the past three seasons and with Jared Goff during Robinson’s first season with the Rams in 2019. Now, he might be developing a younger quarterback, depending how the Falcons decide to handle their quarterback room.
Robinson was a seventh-round pick in 2010 by the New England Patriots. He spent time with the Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals but never threw a pass in a regular-season NFL game.
He then became a quarterback development coach in Texas and worked for the analytics website Pro Football Focus before turning to coaching and being hired by the Rams.
Atlanta also retained special teams coordinator Marquice Williams on Saturday, a league source told ESPN, allowing the Falcons to keep one of the top special teams coordinators in the league and offering continuity on the staff while the club transitions from Smith to Morris.
Travis Kelce is setting the Chiefs’ standard ahead of Super Bowl LVIII
ANDY REID WAS aiming to share some of his wisdom with the Kansas City Chiefs in their locker room during the AFC Championship Game.
He couldn’t finish his message because Travis Kelce intervened each time.
“Travis would just cut him off with a big yell and say, ‘Yeah, sounds about right, let’s go,'” linebacker Drue Tranquill said.
Kelce doesn’t necessarily interrupt Reid every week. He was just as amped as ever for the game against the Baltimore Ravens. During the week, he said he wanted the Chiefs to win as much as he has ever wanted a victory.
His actions on game day suggested those words weren’t hollow. He egged on the Baltimore crowd when he was booed during warmups. He tossed Justin Tucker’s equipment when he felt the Ravens kicker invaded the pregame space of Patrick Mahomes.
He put on one of the best performances of his career with 11 catches for 116 yards and the game’s first touchdown. After the game, which the Chiefs won 17-10 to vault them into Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers, he shared an emotional hug with his brother Jason on the field and high-fived Chiefs fans.
It was an extreme display for anyone, Kelce included. But Kelce is always the Chiefs’ energy source.
“I think it brings a ton,” Mahomes said. “It’s the energy. People don’t even see it at practice. The energy that he has … we have to get him out of practice just to give him a rest and he wants to be out there for every single play.
“That mindset, when you see the Hall of Fame tight end and he wants to be the guy working the hardest, it raises everybody’s standard. It raises the standard of how you practice. It raises the standards of how you prepare because you know that guy that’s done it at the top level wants to continue to do it every single week, every single day. At the same time, he has a great time doing it. That shows that you can work extremely hard and still have fun coming to work every single day.”
