The pre-season will end after tonight, after the Falcons crush the Ravens and ride a big wave into the season. Look for guys on the roster bubble to get a ton of playing time tonight, led by D.J. Shockley at quarterback. Above all, have fun out there.

Let's start this off right, after the jump.

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You never want to hear that three of your team's players have been involved in a car accident, especially when one of those three is newly anointed starting quarterback and hope of the franchise.

Yet here's ESPN's Pat Yasinskas telling us exactly that. Fortunately for all involved, the accident turned out to be minor. Apparently Matty Ice, Shock and Brian Finneran were in the car at the time heading to Flowery Branch and were able to keep going after the rain-caused crash. I can't imagine Falcons fan would take kindly to our guys being rear-ended by some random dude in a Honda Civic.

After last year's spate of weird injuries, legal troubles and other mishaps, it'd be nice if this was the worst we saw this season.

Though I really do like D.J. Shockley, I'm not convinced at all that he's going to come out of today's game with a job. Two horrible pre-season performances and an injury history will do that.

For once, though, I'm not here to blather on about what I think. I want to know what you think. Can Shock, a seemingly nice guy with a huge fanbase, eke out a living as the third quarterback? Will he perform well enough today to hold on to his job? Is Dave the Falconer fond of questions?

Sharpen those keyboards and get to solving this problem, and we'll see how it resolves itself against the Ravens.

Here's a couple notes about the upcoming game, courtesy of various outlets:

• Check out Rexx's FanPost over on the side there, where he gives a brief look at what the Ravens will be playing for this week. If you're not already familiar with Rexx's work, be sure to visit Baltimore Beatdown to see what the Ravens have been up to. I've also contributed a FanPost to his site.
• This is a few days old now, but eminent Falcologist Steve Wyche of the AJC looks at the backup quarterback battle and what rookies have a chance of starting and gives us a good look at who might get considerable run on Thursday. It's right here, in case you haven't seen it yet.
  
• Starting QB candidates Kyle Boller and Troy Smith are both out, according to The Baltimore Sun, which means strong-armed rookie Joe Flacco is likely to get the start. I'm a big fan of Flacco (I picked him for the Falcons in our SBN mock draft), and I'll be interested to see how he looks out there. That said, I hope we sack him at least five times.
• For those of you who are awake/around, remember that I'll have an open thread up for any of you who want to come shoot the breeze during the game. I'll be sadly working through most of the game, but I'll make every effort to be there when I can and hope you'll all show up.

So you want to know about the Atlanta Falcons, eh?

Hey, wait! Don't avoid eye contact! I can tell you're interested.

Well, your erstwhile opponent Thursday night is a team in a state of full-blown transition. We have a rookie QB who may or may not get to play much of the game (young Matt Ryan), a running back who has looked great but never has started (Michael Turner) and the most generically named coach in the NFL (Mike Smith). It's truly an exciting and scary time to be a fan of the team. If nothing else, you'll be seeing a team that's almost as unfamiliar to all of us as it is to you.

There's no telling how many starters will get run on Thursday, but you will see plenty of our young defense. There's not a single starting-caliber cornerback on our roster over the age of 25. Brent Grimes is a former undrafted free agent who has taken the team by storm and is incredibly athletic. I'm not sure how many of your receivers are up and running (lots of injuries, no?), but Grimes and rookie Chevis Jackson will be accompanying them downfield. We also have one of the most fearsome linebacking corps in the league, and hard-hitting rookie Curtis Lofton will be auditioning for a starting job. Also intriguing is the battle between Jason Snelling and Thomas Brown for third running back, with the bruising Snelling matching up against Brown, a sort of lesser version of Ray Rice (great player you got there, by the way.)

So you should see a competitive squad on the field, though Matt Ryan may not play all that much now that he's locked up the starting job. Here's hoping you guys enjoy the game, and best of luck on the season ahead!

I really hate to have to come crawling to you, dear readers, but there's been a slight issue with our Flea Flicker Fantasy Football League that is demanding some attention. Due to some people dropping out, there are currently three open spaces in the league. If you don't have a team and you'd really like to get in, please shoot me an e-mail or just comment here.

Thank you for helping out The Falcoholic!

The title of this post is the only explanation for this story:

Punt returner Adam Jennings, who muffed a punt against Indianapolis, came back with returns of 28 and 23 yards against Tennessee.

“I think that Adam has separated himself with the performance that he had on Friday night,” Smith said. “I know that Harry (Douglas) has got the skill set and could do it as well. It’s a two-man race, but I think Adam has pulled out in front in that area.”

Jennings won the punt-returning job last season, but has a penchant for fair-catching returnable punts. He had 19 fair catches on 30 returns last season and averaged a meager 6.2 yards a return. He had no touchdowns with a long return of 23 yards.

This is criminally insane. Maybe the coaching staff is seeing something from Adam Jennings that I'm not--maybe he can project his very soul into the end zone or something--but Jennings was not last year and has not yet been an effective returner. There's absolutely nothing in terms of physical evidence that says Jennings should take a roster spot from someone else if all he's going to do is return kicks.

I try to wish everyone well and put a bright face on everything, but there's no reason Adam Jennings should make the roster at this point when Harry Douglas can't possibly do any worse. Unless he blasts off a couple of 50 yard returns this weekend, I think Jennings ought to be looking for work elsewhere.

Thoughts?

You know the drill by now. With our bigger cut downs coming soon and the news of Matt Ryan starting, it's time once again to try to predict the starters. I am older, humbler, and wiser this time around, but you'll still probably disagree with some of my choices.

Discuss in the comments check it out after the jump.

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