Falcon veteran Leonard Floyd says O-Line struggles with first-round pass rusher's play style

Yahoo

30-07-2025

The Atlanta Falcons are deep into training camp, and things are starting to get a little chippy—particularly between rookie James Pearce Jr. and the offense. Tensions began to flare on Sunday, when Pearce got into two separate scuffles that didn't reflect well on him.
'Rookie James Pearce Jr. was the main character today. He set off two scrums on back-to-back plays — the first going at it with Ryan Neuzil and Matthew Bergeron (who had some words), and the second with Kaleb McGary,' wrote Adnan Ikic of The Falcoholic.
Pearce's draft stock took a slight hit due to some character concerns heading into the draft. However, the Falcons saw something different. After a pre-draft visit with Pearce and his family, the team became confident in who he is as a person.
'In the end, after sitting down with Pearce and a slew of people from his past, the team saw a guy who loves football, is hyper-competitive and has smarts, and the Falcons were willing to bet on Morris's program to help him grow up,' Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote.
According to AJC's D. Orlando Ledbetter, Pearce has been getting under the skin of the offensive line—likely because of how disruptive he's been throughout camp.
Free-agent signee Leonard Floyd commented on Pearce's intensity, emphasizing his support for the rookie while also acknowledging the tension it creates.
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'I try to bring him to the side and help him cool himself down before he gets real crazy with it," Floyd said, via atlantafalcons.com's Tori McElhaney. "But he's a good guy, man. He works hard. The linemen just don't like it. But that's a good thing."
Pearce has been so impactful at camp—frequently disrupting the quarterback—that he's clearly frustrating the offensive line. But that's football. If the offensive line doesn't like it, the solution is simple: stop him. So far, they haven't figured out how.