Will Jessie Bates be able to cause problems for Broncos' rookie?
Justin Simmons isn’t feeling bitterness toward his old team, and Kirk Cousins seems to be fine despite an injury scare. And before the Falcons face Bo Nix and the Broncos, safety Jessie Bates had a hilarious remark.
Bates poked fun at the amount of time Nix played college football, according to a post on X by Raphael Haynes.
“We've been watching him in college for the past … 10 years”
The Falcons enter the game with a record of 6-4 while the Broncos stand at 5-5 on the season.
Falcons safety Jessie Bates ready for Nix
Even though the Falcons only have 10 games worth of film to see Nix, Bates said that’s enough.
“Ten games is enough to really see a quarterback’s strengths and weaknesses and what they do,” Bates said. “It’s almost sometimes a good thing if you don’t have that much (information). (That way) you’re not overthinking what this quarterback is capable of.
“But there’s multiple years where we can go back and watch what he does. He’s not a rookie quarterback; it seems like he’s a graduate student almost. And he’s doing a good job of running their offense at a high level.”
However, Bates is playing well, too. He has two interceptions on the season to go along with 60 tackles. He also had 10 tackles for loss. For his seven-year NFL career, Bates has 22 interceptions.
What kind of season is Bo Nix having?
Meanwhile, Nix has completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,968 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. Also, he has rushed for 291 yards and four scores.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said the organization looked hard at Nix heading into this year’s NFL Draft. A workout of Nix highlighted the process, according to offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s comments to Sports Illustrated.
“He did a great workout for us up there,” Robinson said. “Just talking with him, the guy totally loves football. He's all in. Can tell how smart he was. Obviously, he's got some twitch in his arm. He can make every single throw. Extremely athletic. “All those things were the reason why he was drafted where he was. We had a lot of like for him as well, certainly leading up to it.”
Morris came away impressed as well.
“I know what type of listener he is,” Morris said. “I know how well he can pick up those things and develop. I’ve got a lot of respect for him just throughout the draft process of being able to go work with him just a little bit. And find out who he is and what he's about.
“He's done a great job of using his legs. I think he's really taken the league by storm with his ability to run and all those type of things. He's definitely a guy that was a competitor. He was sharp. He was fun to be around, and it looks like that's how he's playing. He's feisty, (and) he's got an edge to him. He's not afraid to use his legs, (and) he's learning every single day.”
