If the Falcons veterans were skeptical about head coach Bobby Petrino before it seems like the decision to cut defensive tackle Grady Jackson has taken the knob and turned it from skepticism to outright distrust.DeAngelo Hall was vocal about his puzzlement at the move, but since Hall has already flat out declared that he doesn't believe in Petrino, that's not really much news. But AJC Falcons' beat writer Steve Wyche makes it clear that much more level-headed veterans like Warrick Dunn and others were left just as stunned by the move.
Jackson wasn't given a reason for the release beyond the fact that he didn't fit the system. Apparently the remaining players didn't even get that much of an explanation. There's no way to sell this as anything but a move that points to the team throwing in the towel for the rest of the 2007 season because there is no upside for the current team. Even if the Falcons coaches have decided that Trey Lewis is a better nose tackle than Jackson, there's no reason not to keep Jackson on the team in case Lewis gets hurt (there's no way the Falcons can find a street free agent who will plug the middle of the line better than Jackson). The team's already on the hook for the rest of his 2007 salary, so there's no cap reason for the move either.
And if Petrino was attempting to motivate the rest of the team with the move it seems to have backfired. Instead of seeing it as a message to play harder, Dunn seemed to indicate that he viewed it more as an arbitrary move that makes everyone else on the team wonder if they could be summarily released next.
It's fair for Falcons veterans to be skeptical of Petrino. The fact that he was a good college coach means nothing in an NFL locker room--great college coaches like Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban and Lou Holtz were miserable failures as NFL coaches. So rightfully Petrino has to prove that he's the kind of leader who can take the Falcons back to the playoffs. Right now, there probably aren't a whole lot of veterans in the locker room who are true believers. That's OK if Petrino plans to completely clean house and start over with a new group of Petrino devotees, but if that's the case there's going to be some disastrous carnage in the short term.
