All Eyes Will Be on Joey Harrington in Atlanta Falcons Preseason Opener

Tonight, the Atlanta Falcons open their preseason in a 7:00 pm (est.) showdown with the New York Jets at Giants Stadium.

Spotlight:

After an offseason marred by controversy courtesy of Michael Vick, much of tonight's focus will be on quarterback Joey Harrington. He will make his Falcons debut this evening and in the eyes of the fans, there is little room for error. However, Harrington is excited and truly believes he can succeed in Bobby Petrino's offensive system.

"It was a bit difficult to pick up initially," said Harrington, playing for his fifth head coach in seven years, Bobby Petrino. "But now, it's great. I love it. It's by far my favorite offense I've played for in the NFL."

It's going to be interesting to see how the normally inconsistent Harrington comes out and performs in an entirely new system. He certainly has the tools for success with Joe Horn, Roddy White, Michael Jenkins and Alge Crumpler as his targets.

What else to watch for:

- With running back Warrick Dunn out with a back injury, Jerious Norwood will get the bulk of the first team carries. So, why is that a big deal? Although Dunn is still considered the Falcons featured back, it has already been decided by Coach Petrino that Norwood will see an increased workload this year. There are some high hopes for Norwood, who finished last year with 633 yards on 99 carries (6.4 ypc average).

- While most of the attention will be on Joey Harrington, back-up quarterbacks Chris Redman and D.J. Shockley are also expected to see significant time tonight. Although Harrington is starting, any one of these three men could still earn the starting nod with impressive performances this offseason.

- Noriaki Kinoshita has really flown under the radar this offseason and that's quite unfortunate. The Japanese born wide receiver will make his NFL debut tonight and while he only has an outside shot to make the team, it's a big deal in Japan (and should be for the NFL). I honestly hope he shines this evening.