When the Atlanta Falcons take the field for their first preseason game in a crucial season, one thing will be missing, Tony Gonzalez. The team expected this, but it is still a slight blow to the preparation. After attending the first three days of training camp, Gonzalez headed back home to California to spend time with his family before the real season begins. Despite his absence in all of camp, quarterback Matt Ryan is not concerned one bit.
The Falcons made it a priority to convince Gonzalez to give the NFL one more season. After already declaring his retirement, Atlanta was able to convince the future Hall of Fame tight end to give the Super Bowl one more shot. However, with a new contract came a few exceptions. Gonzalez made it clear that he had family commitments already on the calendar and would miss most of training camp. Both the team and Ryan felt perfectly fine with this.
"This will be year five together and at that point you have a lot of chemistry, a lot of time spent together, a lot of reps under our belt," Ryan said in an interview on Sirius XM NFL Radio. "We actually worked together a bit this summer too. I was out in California for a little while to try and get some of that work done with him that we would be missing at this time."
Ryan and Gonzalez spent some time over the summer working out together and run routes in order to keep the chemistry. Last season, the tight end caught 93 passes for 930 yards and eight touchdowns. Ryan is pretty confident that what Gonzalez returns to practice, he will pick up right where he left off.
"I think the reps are there. I don't think it will be a problem at all. I know he's one of those guys who, regardless of where he's at, he's taking care of himself and getting himself prepared. I look forward to when he does get back but I don't see it being a problem at all," Ryan said.
With Gonzalez absent, other tight ends on the depth chart have been given a chance to shine. Rookie Levine Toilolo and Chase Coffman have both been looking strong in training camp, while getting plenty of reps with the veteran out.
Toilolo was the fourth-round pick for the team in this year's NFL Draft and has been benefiting from extra reps in practice.
"I'm feeling like I've learned a lot more," he said, "especially with Tony being gone this offseason and right now getting in more of a groove with the first team offense to take some of those reps," Toilolo said.
At this point, the Falcons have a battle for the backup spot. Toilolo, Coffman and Tommy Gallarda are all poised to see the field at some point this season.