Atlanta Falcons Safety Jessie Bates has seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between, but a fresh start for him in Atlanta is a refreshing sign.
Bates would speak on new life being bred into the Atlanta Falcons defense, and coordinator Jeff Ulbrich stating, "I love the fact that he's been in our chairs before. Anytime you get a new coach, and sometimes some coaches like to overemphasize some things, overcoach some things, and say it's all about the X's and O's. But when you have a coach that's been there before, that's been in those seats, that's been in installs before, it's a little bit easier to apply what he's talking about in the meetings.
Falcons safety Jessie Bates reacts to a call against the Denver Broncos. Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Falcons safety Jessie Bates reacts to a call against the Denver Broncos. Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Bates in the second round of the 2018 draft. Since then, he has played in all but one regular-season game. This year, with Atlanta, Bates is 28 years old and will be in a new, more aggressive scheme than before. Regarding Jeff Ulbrich, Bates seems to be backed by the entire team regarding morale and how bad things have been in Atlanta over the past couple of seasons. Ulbrich has practiced what he has preached on the football field as recently as 2009.
“It's been great. Jeff's super demanding. He has that linebacker personality. It's been good to work with him, and I'm excited for what's to come. "We get this 10-week offseason period together, where you want to kind of knock out all your base fundamentals and your philosophies. This is about gaining that trust and understanding what we want to be for the year coming up. So, when we get to training camp, we can hit the ground running," said Bates.
Bates thinks highly of Ulbrich and the Falcons defense, and will look to continue to revamp a secondary that has been less stellar to say the least. Now a true veteran who has earned his voice in the locker room, Jessie Bates is eager to take that next step.