How to run. How to catch. How to block.
How to make teammates smile.
In training camp, Freeman’s contagious personality may be one of his biggest strengths. His ever-present smile can be a mood-lifter during long, hot practice days.
“It’s definitely effective,” Coleman said after Saturday’s practice. “Just having him here and bringing in the energy and getting other guys motivated to compete and work hard, just his presence here lightens everybody up. I like that.”
Freeman is especially upbeat this camp. He is relishing his return to good health following a sometimes scary 2017 season.
Freeman suffered two concussions last year. He spent the last two weeks of the preseason in concussion protocol before suffering another concussion against Dallas on Nov. 12 that forced him to miss two games. A sprained right knee cut into his production late in the season.
Now Freeman, 26, is feeling good. He’s an important part of an offense that is looking to return to its form of 2016, when it led the league in scoring.
“What more can I ask for?” Freeman asked earlier this week. “My dream job is football and I get to play. I come to work and play football every day. That’s it.”
Coleman said Freeman is “happy to feel good, happy to be here with his brothers, happy to compete.”
Coach Dan Quinn says Freeman’s tough demeanor in practice shows that he loves the game, especially in training camp.
“He’s such a competitor,” Quinn said Saturday. “He has the personality among his teammates. They love him. They love what he stands for on the field Randy Gregory Jersey , off the field, in the locker room. He is one of constant support. His makeup and mentality, based on toughness and competing, this is his kind of environment.”
Added Quinn: “We truly celebrate guys like Free who live that lifestyle.”
Quinn immediately noticed a change in Freeman early in camp.
“It is awesome to see Free back, feeling like himself,” he said.
Freeman was one of the first players to catch the attention of Quinn, then a first-year coach, in 2015. The coach immediately talked about Freeman’s skills as a runner and receiver, and the running back’s breakout season lived up to the hype.
Freeman ranked fifth in the NFL with 1,634 combined rushing and receiving yards in 2015 and was first with 14 all-purpose touchdowns.
He added another 1,000-yard rushing season in 2016. Even while missing two games last year, he ran for 865 yards with seven touchdowns and had 36 catches for 317 yards.
Most running backs would be happy with 36 catches Trey Burton Jersey , but for Freeman it was a big drop from 2015, when he caught 73 passes for 578 yards.
Freeman hopes he and Coleman have more targets from quarterback Matt Ryan in the second year with offensive coordinator Steve Sarkasian.
“I think we’ve got enough talent to be utilized in the passing game,” he said. “We need to take advantage of that.”
NOTES: The Falcons had their fourth annual military day, welcoming soldiers from Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, and 24 families from the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors who have lost a loved one in the military. “It was a great way for us to pay tribute back to them,” Quinn said. … A German TV crew, on a tour of at least eight NFL training camps, visited the Falcons and plans to return when Atlanta hosts this season’s Super Bowl. “It would be a perfect scenario if the home team could reach the Super Bowl,” said Christoph Dommisch of 7Sports. Dommisch and other members of the crew wore traditional lederhosen — shorts and suspenders.
WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals winger Jakub Vrana is playing in just his first playoff series against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, yet he has a pretty good grasp of things.
“Everybody knows it’s a big rivalry. We kind of hate each other,” the 22-year-old Vrana told reporters Friday. “We go at it and we’re really pumped for the next game.”
The Penguins and Capitals meet Saturday in Washington for Game 5 of their series Shawn Lauvao Jersey , which is tied 2-2 after the Penguins’ 3-1 win Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.
“We knew we needed to have a good response game here,” center Sidney Crosby told the Post-Gazette. “We did that. We need to carry this momentum into Washington.”
Washington, looking to avenge second-round losses to Pittsburgh in each of the last two seasons, has won five straight Game 5s when the series is tied. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is 4-1 on the road in these playoffs after going 17-20-4 away from home in the regular season.
In their last two playoffs meetings, the Capitals trailed the Penguins 3-1 before falling in six games in 2015-16 and seven games last season.
“One game at a time. Now this game isn’t going to shake us at all,” Capitals goalie Braden Holtby told NHL.com after Thursday’s loss. “Our biggest asset has been bouncing back, either after a win or a loss. Just focus on playing our game, and that’s what we’re going to do. I don’t think anyone in here believes any different.”
Bouncing back will require Washington to get its top line going. With Tom Wilson suspended for Games 4-6, coach Barry Trotz moved Devante Smith-Pelly up with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. They managed just five shots on goal Thursday, none by Ovechkin.
“That whole line has to be better Geron Christian Jersey ,” Trotz told the Washington Post on Friday. “I think that whole line has to be better for us. They’re going to need to be productive for us.”
Trotz could make a change to the top line for Saturday’s game. Forward Andre Burakovsky, who has been out with an upper-body injury since the Columbus series, skated Friday but is unlikely to return Saturday. Vrana played with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov early in the season.
Pittsburgh evened the series Thursday after losing two in a row as Jake Guentzel scored twice, Crosby had two assists and Matt Murray made 20 saves.
Evgeny Malkin scored the tiebreaker in the second period on a goal that survived a replay review and a challenge for goaltender interference.
Guentzel leads the NHL with 10 goals and 21 points in the playoffs.
“Just kind of feel like the bounces are going in right now,” Guentzel told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “You’re just getting lucky on some plays in front of the net. The puck’s finding me. Just have to try and be around it. Hopefully, they keep coming. It’s definitely a good feeling.”
The Capitals managed just three shots on goal in the third period.
“I think we cut down their odd-man rushes there last game, and that’s going to be a big key in this series,” Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist told the Post Gazette. “They have a lot of firepower up front and we just have to make sure they can’t get those quality chances.”
Penguins forward Carl Hagelin returned for Game 4 after missing three games with an upper-body injury.
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