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- Mar 19, 2019
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Be prepared for anything and everything | By @pcraigers
What will the Falcons do under new leadership?
Rather than a late-season takeover, Morris has roughly two-thirds of a season — albeit a weird and unprecedented one — to establish his identity on the team and effectively interview for the permanent position.
Because of the opportunity ahead of Morris and his staff members that have been promoted, the Falcons may be less inclined to empty the bucket and roll out unconventional trick plays on offense or special teams (kind of like the Bears did in Week 17 of 2017 in John Fox's final game).
Mike Zimmer said it's tough to change too much in-season but added "they may be more aggressive." Zimmer said the Vikings would look back at analytics of what Morris did as head coach with Tampa Bay from 2009-11.
Morris then coached defensive backs in Washington from 2012-14, overlapping with Kirk Cousins in the quarterback's first three pro seasons.
"Well I have the utmost respect for [Morris], and I know schematically he could throw anything at us, so we have to have a very open mind of all the different looks they could bring and be ready for all of it," Cousins said. "You certainly can't say, 'Hey, we think they're going to do this, so we'll just focus on that part of the game.' I think it's going to be being ready to face a variety of coverages, variety of fronts, variety of pressures, variety of disguises and have a plan for each of them.
"Throughout the game, things change, too; if something's working on our end then they're going to change and vice versa," Cousins continued. "The key will be not only our preparation all week long but then being able to sustain, especially coming out of [halftime], having a strong third quarter and being able to really keep our foot on the gas from the first quarter through the fourth."
Morris promoted running backs coach Bernie Parmalee to special teams coordinator. Parmalee was Atlanta's assistant special teams coach in 2019.
Vikings Special Teams Coordinator Marwan Maalouf said he told Vikings players "to be prepared for any and all" this week.
"It's hard to change certain things when you've already got five games under your belt, so some things I think will stay the same, but we're ready for fakes, we're ready for formations that we haven't seen," Maalouf said. "I think that's really important. If you prepare for the unexpected but stay within your scheme and what our guys understand, I think everything will work out for the best."