D.J. Shockley, quarterback, and Jamie Winborn, linebacker, were two of the 13 players that were released on Saturday by the Atlanta Falcons to get to their 53 man maximum roster.

The Atlanta Falcons ended their 2009 preseason with a 2-2 record, following their 20-3 loss against the Baltimore Ravens at the Georgia Dome on Thursday night.

The five yard touchdown pass thrown by Chris Redman to Eric Weems with just nine seconds remaining in the game lifted the Atlanta Falcons over the San Diego Chargers giving them a 27-24 win in the preseason match up. A 37 yard field goal from Nate Kaeding gave the Chargers a 24-20 lead with 2:07 left in the game. Redman led the Falcons on a march down field where they wound up on the seven yard line and first and goal. After he failed to convert on three downs, Redman culminated the 11 play 75 yard drive with a bullet to Weems who was deep in the end zone.

All of us have been waiting for Atlanta to make a move that would improve their secondary and they have done just that. Tye Hill, first round draft pick from Clemson, at the NFL Scouting Combine ran a forty yard dash of 4.31. Hill’s rookie year was fairly impressive where he had 50 tackles (47 of which were solo), six defended passes and three interceptions.

The Atlanta Falcons introduced on Thursday the throwback uniforms they will use for the 2009 season. The white, black and red uniforms are in honor of the franchise’s 1966 inaugural team.

Its that time of year when the NFL teams take the field to prove that their second team is better than your second team. Its exciting stuff let me tell you, but if nothing else it gives the fans a chance to get a glimpse at the potential stars of the future. In Saturday?s preseason opener where the Falcons took on the Lions at Ford Field, we got plenty of flashes of the future.

As we get ready to wrap up the first official week of training camp, one man is still noticeably absent ? Roddy White. White is in the last year of his contract and is set to make a paltry $2.28 million. Evidently, ol? Roddy is barely scrapping by and is vying to lock in something in the neighborhood of Larry Fitzgerald?s $10 million a year contract. Fitzgerald is currently drawing the highest average salary among wide receivers in the league. 2009 is Roddy White?s last year under his current contract.

Tough break for the Falcons as it was revealed on Wednesday that wide receiver Harry Douglas is out for the season due to a torn ACL. The injury happened during one-on-one drills as he got tied up with corner back Chris Houston while going for a Matt Ryan pass. He wasn’t mobile and had to be carted off the practice field at Flowery Branch. Later in the evening, ESPN’s Adam Scheffer relayed the bad news to Falcon?s fans everywhere regarding Douglas’ torn ACL.

We are mere weeks away from the start of preseason so you know what that means ? Falcons training camp is opening. Beginning August 1, Falcons? training camp kicks off in Flowery Branch with select practices being open to the public. Admission is free. Training camp will last for three weeks and is sponsored by Russell Athletic. An autograph session will follow each practice featuring select members from the offensive and defensive squads on alternate days.

The NFL Network has evidently been poking the bear with a stick again. Rich Rosa, John Abraham’s agent, says the star defensive end isn’t sour on his contract and isn’t planning on staging a holdout as previously reported by the network. He said that when Falcons training camp opens in Flowery Branch on August 1, his client will be busy roughing the passer.