Falcons DL Graham's Practice Habits Force Inactive Status, says Coach

It's certainly not the outcome many anticipated for Graham's third professional campaign, but with 11 regular season games still to play, there's time left to turn it around.

That said, Graham, who started nine games last year, wasn't necessarily playing a considerable role anyways - in large part because of Atlanta's newfound defensive line depth.

With free agent additions David Onyemata and Calais Campbell occupying snaps and late signee Albert Huggins taking over more responsibilities in the past two games, Graham's outlook becomes murky.

Again, the Falcons had high hopes for Graham and planned on him being a factor in pass rush situations ... but the combination of his practice habits and Atlanta's heightened depth inside have rendered him a healthy scratch.

“I think (defensive coordinator) Ryan (Nielsen) and Arthur always talk about competition and what are you doing during the week,” Gray said. “The biggest thing is getting guys to understand that you’re constantly being evaluated on what you do in practice.

“One of the things that we’ve shown is if you practice, you’re probably going to get what you get in the game, and if you go out there and don’t practice well, you’re probably going to get what you get in the game.”

Gray later reiterated that if you practice at a high level, you'll play at a high level, and Atlanta's coaching staff is trying to set a standard for the players to practice at.

Should the standard not be met, the result is growing clear: just look at Graham.

“If you don’t do that, then the other guys get rewarded," Gray said. “If you’re not practicing hard, it’s going to be hard to go out there and play during the course of the game.”

The Falcons currently have eight defensive linemen on their roster - Graham, Onyemata, Campbell, Huggins, Grady Jarrett, Joe Gaziano, Zach Harrison and Eli Ankou.

Against Washington, the trio of Graham, Gaziano and Ankou were healthy scratches. Graham and Huggins have seen their snaps inversely correlate, illustrating the direction Atlanta's leaning in terms of practice performance.

In the span of two months, Graham's profile has gone from ascending young interior defender to facing an unsettling reality - what he's done in return from injury hasn't been enough to get on the field.

Graham remains talented and capable of growing into the pressure player the Falcons think he can be ... but the battle to reach his ceiling on Sundays is currently being fought most in practice during the week, and at least in Gray's eyes, that challenge hasn't been conquered.