James Pearce Jr. adding 'a little edge' to Falcons defense

Leonard Floyd heard a commotion building behind him. Words were being said. Intensity was rising. As he turned back towards the practice field, there was a sea of white, offensive jerseys crowding around one lone black, defensive one. Without hesitation, Floyd took off towards the skirmish. No questions asked.

"I learned that from Aaron Donald when I was in L.A. — you got to ride for your guys on defense," Floyd said. "Even if he's in the wrong, you still got to ride for him."

Floyd was going to defend his guy, which so happened to be rookie edge rusher James Pearce Jr., who was exchanging shoves with Matthew Bergeron and, later, Kaleb McGary. Once the skirmishes broke up, Floyd led Pearce off to the sideline to cool down, shielding him from the natural inclination to ruminate in the heat.

"I try to bring him to the side and help him cool himself down before he gets real crazy with it," Floyd said. "But he's a good guy, man. He works hard. The linemen just don't like it. But that's a good thing."

And it is exactly what the Falcons wanted when they traded up to draft him in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. There was intentionality to go get a guy of Pearce's makeup and passion. They didn't just want an edge defender, they wanted a defender who plays with an edge. Pearce? Coaches and players believe he has that in spades. The scuffles during Sunday's practice — with Pearce at the center — likely reinforced that perception.

"It was a part of our draft. We wanted to add a little edge to our football team," Morris said. "We wanted to add a little edge to our rush."

All the great players whose sole purpose is to get after the quarterback seem to have that edge. Donald had it. So, too, did Von Miler, Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice. Those are just the ones Morris listed when discussing the importance of that quality to the position. They all have that edge to them. They are razor sharp, with a fire simmering just underneath the surface. A useful mindset when running headlong into 300-pound linemen over and over again. The Falcons decision makers wanted some of that fire within the players they brought in to this defensive unit in 2025. They want that to be a part of their DNA as they work to reestablish a defensive identity under Jeff Ulbrich.

"Part of us becoming the team that we want to be and actually doing some of these things that we want to do is acquiring players with some natural edge," Morris said. "That is definitely a part of it. Definitely a part of what we want. Definitely a part of who we are."

There is a line within this, though, and it was one that the Falcons were pleased to find Pearce knows and polices within himself.

You never want those skirmishes or slight fisticuffs to boil over to the point of messing up the rhythm of practice — where you're having to miss certain drills or reps because you're busy breaking something up. What you want instead is what outside linebacker coach Jacquies Smith called "controlled violence."

"We can still get our work done but also know playing with the right intensity for a young guy coming in you are still trying to prove yourself. You got to prove it to the veterans," Smith said. "There is a thin line between it, but if you do it the right way, you get the most out of it."

Still, as Morris put it, there is a "certain amount of physicality that is required to be a part of this football team."

It's that physicality and passion that drew the Falcons to Pearce to begin with. One could say those traits are resonating within the group early in training camp.

"It's important. You got to have it," Kaden Elliss summized. "This is football. It's about physicality. It's about dominating in the trenches. You see who won the Super Bowl last year, and how they did it. It was in the trenches.

"At the end of the day, that is the engine of the team. That's what makes it go. That's how you win the game. Flashy players can get you wins every now and again, but those big, strong, edge-y guys in the (trenches), that is what wins you championships — game after game after game."

Having invested a first-round pick in Pearce, the Falcons' hope is that he gets under the skin of other linemen across the league like he did Sunday with his own. If that happens, the Falcons will get everything they desired .