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In a development sure to shake up the Falcons' locker room, the team cut veteran starting nose tackle Grady Jackson on Tuesday. It did not give a reason for the move, but said coach Bobby Petrino would address the situation at today's news conference.

Rookie Trey Lewis, a sixth-round pick from Division II Washburn, will assume the starting job held by Jackson since he was acquired as a free agent before the 2006 season.

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They couldnt have gotten something for this guy? strange.

id take in him cleveland....he cant be much worse than what we already have on the dline

Jackson can still make plays, but don't count on them outside of the 1st quarter. His size and age have finally caught up to him.

High 5 wrote:Jackson can still make plays, but don't count on them outside of the 1st quarter. His size and age have finally caught up to him.

It sounded like it wasnt a popular move in the clubhouse.

It's rarely a popular move when someone is cut.

ill take him in houston, at least he makes tackles for losses

High 5 wrote:It's rarely a popular move when someone is cut.

Sometimes teammates will hold the door open for a guy when he's cut, this didnt seem like the case. Heck management knows more about what's going on there than i do, dont they?

What I heard, from someone who would know:

Jackson's conditioning and apathy towards practice and game prep drove Petrino and the other coaches crazy. He simply didn't care at all about anything but himself. The basic jist came down to, "We can lose without him just as easy as we can with him". This should be interpreted by the rest of the Falcons as a clear signal that Petrino is in charge and it's his way or the highway. He refuses to write this season off and it was clear to him that Jackson was just going thru the motions, so Petrino ended his season early. Several vets on defense are quietly very happy about it, from what I've been told. One guy who is not is obviously Deangelo Hall, who could very well be the next guy shown the door, after the season. Don't be surprised if the Falcons do a Keyshawn-esque "suspension" of Hall if he doesn't conform quickly. Alge Crumpler, who still is in denial about Vick's status, is almost certainly going to be gone as well.

I also heard Leftwich is probably done for at least 6 weeks, not just 3-4 weeks, and they are shaking the bushes looking for a developmental QB to bring in. Good luck with that--Tim Couch has his phone on.

Bears could use his talent. They've had injury issues at DT with Dvoracek out for the year, Walker missing time, and Harris banged up. Jackson is a good run stopper too isn't he? Bears could use that as well.

I'd love him in Oakland... we still have problems with the run, and having him rotate in with Gerard Warren, Tommy Kelly, and Warren Sapp, would be ideal for us

510Reggae wrote:I'd love him in Oakland... we still have problems with the run, and having him rotate in with Gerard Warren, Tommy Kelly, and Warren Sapp, would be ideal for us

Didn't the Raiders once cut him in the middle of a season too?

Maybe a few hits to head erased that memory?

We sure need him though... and if anyone could cut a safety with good cover skills as well, we'd be thankful

He may be out of shape, and a big fat pig, but we will take him. A change of teams, may give him motivation. If Denver got a decent run stopper, it would change that defense for the better. Hes another Gilbert Brown, Sam Adams, etc. Just a guy in the middle who takes up space.

Maybe Marcus Thomas needs to get high to be a terror like in college?

If Dallas didn't have Tank Johnson coming in in a few weeks, I'd be all over this despite Jay Ratliff's surprisingly good play. Even so, I'd still be interested to see if he might want to sign as a low minutes production player.

i see him going to the bears. but as a packer fan and with my team having no running game yet(it will develop very slowly over time) i do not want him in the nfc north crushing our backs.

Despite Grady Jackson's lack of effort outside of the games, I think he'd still be a Falcon if not for the issues he had with the Falcons this off season where he sued them for giving out private info on his health. He'll definitely improve any team he goes to. Especially if he has a very limited role.

f l u r p wrote:If Dallas didn't have Tank Johnson coming in in a few weeks, I'd be all over this despite Jay Ratliff's surprisingly good play. Even so, I'd still be interested to see if he might want to sign as a low minutes production player.

Exactly. It couldnt hurt to have an extra guy like grady around for a small role. Whether he would accept it or not is my question.

Jackson 'trying to figure out why' Falcons cut him

"They told me that I didn't fit their system," Jackson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. "That's what they told me and that they wanted to go younger. From my standpoint, why would you do something like that when the season isn't almost over. In other words, for me, I just feel like they are giving up on the season."

Jackson, 35, helped to improve the run defense last season. He said he had a good relationship with new defensive line coach Kevin Wolthausen, who came with Petrino from Louisville.

"I'm still trying to figure out why," Jackson said.

The Falcons play a 4-3 alignment. Jackson was playing nose guard and wasn't sure what part of the scheme he didn't fit any longer.

"You're asking the wrong person," Jackson said. "The only thing I can say is that stats don't lie. The numbers speak for themselves. That's how I look at it. I played ball. There wasn't any question that I played every Sunday."

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