Natrone Brooks took his position on the left side of the Atlanta Falcons secondary, with his knees bent, feet together and his eyes on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Devin Leary.
When Leary threw the ball in the flat to tight end Qadir Ismail, Brooks broke free. On paper, the Falcons’ 6-foot-4, 175-pound cornerback was at a disadvantage to the 6-foot-6, 215-pound Ismail.
But football is not played on paper.
Without hesitation, Brooks dropped his pads and lunged at Ismail. The ball bounced out, Ismail backed up, and the Falcons sideline exploded.
Although Atlanta was unable to recover the fumble, Baltimore was forced to punt from the midfield and gave the ball back to the Falcons’ offense with just over three minutes left in Saturday’s preseason game.
The tackle was the 13th of the day for Brooks, who played a prominent role in Atlanta’s 13-12 loss at M&T Bank Stadium. It was also symbolic of who – and what – Brooks is.
The Falcons Podcast: Spotify | Apple peels | IHeart
“I know most people see my size and think, ‘Let’s tackle this guy,’ but I have small man syndrome,” Brooks said after the game. “I know people are going to try to tackle me, but I have the dog in me to show you guys, like, ‘Okay, I’m physically strong. I’m still physically strong at 169 pounds.'”
The preseason performance is nothing new for Brooks.
Last year, he came out of the University of Southern Mississippi as an undrafted free agent and finished his rookie exhibition series with 14 tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass deflections in three games.
In Saturday’s game alone, he nearly matched his tackle total and was praised by Falcons coach Raheem Morris for his ability to take opponents out of the game.
Despite already having a year of preseason experience under his belt, Brooks is still fighting for his first regular-season opportunity. The 24-year-old was released by the Falcons after the preseason last year, but quickly re-signed and spent his entire rookie season on Atlanta’s practice squad.
Brooks now has another chance to make the 53-man roster, and he’s taking advantage of it – hitting, talking, and enjoying every moment the journey offers him.
“It’s just my love for the game,” Brooks said of his enthusiasm. “I love the game and I love what I do. Every time I step on the field, I’m going to feel that energy and that joy. I’m going to try to pass that on to my brothers.”
“Whether it’s preseason or regular season, have fun doing it. Not everyone gets the chance to do that. Some people wish they were in our position to do that.”
Brooks, a native of Starkville, Mississippi, is surrounded by new coaches in Atlanta’s secondary. Aside from assistant head coach/defensive back Jerry Gray, one of the few defensive backs left from the previous team, Morris is a fresh start at back.
The group is led by secondary coach Justin Hood, while Morris, Gray and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake – all of whom have extensive experience working with defensive backs – are frequent attendees at the meetings.
There was a natural adjustment period for Brooks, but he said he likes Lake’s defense. Additionally, Brooks has found the system works well in helping him overcome his self-diagnosed “small man syndrome,” especially when compared to former defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen’s system of pressing and man coverage.
“This year we have the opportunity to play a lot and read the quarterback. I think that’s my strength since I’m smaller,” Brooks said. “I’m a nervous guy, so I can take the vision and see the quarterback, and I think that’s the most important thing about the game.”
“Instead of playing a lot of pressing, you can go out there, bait the quarterback, read him, instead of just applying pressure on every play. That’s a big difference for me because I can make more plays with the ball.”
The transition from press man to off-zone has caused Brooks to retrain his eyes, which has been his biggest focus this summer. Brooks said when he gets beat in practice, it’s often because his eyes are a little slow and he ends up being a step late to the ball.
But he wasn’t one step slower on Saturday. If anything, he was one step ahead – which he believes came from finding a rhythm early on.
“Corner is about getting a feel and getting the flow of the game,” Brooks said. “Once you get the flow, I feel like the plays come to you at corner. So it was just a good feeling to be out there playing from the start today and being able to show what I can do.”
Opportunities arose and Brooks took advantage of them. He has another chance to prove it again when the Falcons close out their preseason against the Jacksonville Jaguars at 7 p.m. Friday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Brooks faces an uphill battle to make the roster. Atlanta retained 37 players from Saturday’s tryout, including 35 healthy holdouts who appear certain to make the final roster. Five of those players – AJ Terrell, Mike Hughes, Dee Alford, Clark Phillips III and Antonio Hamilton Sr. – are cornerbacks.
The Falcons will likely have six cornerbacks. Throughout training camp, Anthony Johnson and Kevin King have been ahead of the pack in the race for the No. 6 spot, but after his performance in Baltimore, Brooks is definitely in the running. And at least he’s opened doors in other cities in case the Falcons don’t have room for him.
And although he tries not to think about it, he admitted that the composition of the squad during the test season is always in the back of his mind.
“I give God the glory,” Brooks said. “I come out to practice and compete every day. I come out on game day and make the plays I can make and just always do the best I can so I know whatever happens, I give God the glory and at the end of the day, it’s his decision.”
And for Morris and General Manager Terry Fontenot alone, the decision became increasingly difficult after Saturday’s strong performance.
