We were all talking about Henry Black last season. Last year, he lined up everywhere from deep safety to slot, and in early practices, he was jumping routes, punching out balls, and chirping receivers. You just knew that he was going to carve out a real role in Atlanta‘s season this year.

All this hope is probably why you knew a setback was going to happen. One snap, one collision, and all the preseason hype around him went up in the air. It’s nothing official just yet, but everyone on the sideline knew this wasn’t the kind of contact you just shake off.

Yeah, Black got caught in a heavy collision between Titans RB Jordan Mims and another player, taking the worst of it. He was able to get on his feet, but trainers hustled him straight into the blue tent. No official word yet, but if the Falcons want his breakout push to stay alive, they’ll be hoping hard this one’s just a scare. But no, it didn’t look good.

On a night when Titans back Jordan Mims was hammering away inside (12 carries for 50 yards), things got crowded on the edges. And that’s where Black looked to get tangled up in the traffic. The trainers moved fast, running their usual sideline checks for head/neck and lower-body stuff before deciding the next steps.

Before the scare, Henry Black notched a tackle in the defensive rotation. Nothing flashy in the box score, but big for a guy grinding to earn special-teams and sub-package snaps. Preseason isn’t about piling up numbers; it’s about showing coaches they can trust you to be in the right spot. That one stop and his reps in Atlanta’s safety shuffle showed he’s right in the mix.

But this might change everything. Because the room is large. Jessie Bates is the tone-setter, Darnell Fuller came in to steady the back end, and rookies like Billy Bowman Jr and Xavier Watts are pipeline pieces. Henry Black’s value is being the glue guy: core special teams, punt-safe looks, dime packages where you need a sure tackler who keeps everyone on the same page. Big loss. But the Falcons have more than enough depth to stay afloat.

It also brings the Falcons’ preseason priority back into focus: find answers without losing bodies. They’re still sorting out if they can keep five safeties while loading up at corner and along the D-line. That gets a lot trickier when a depth safety is stuck in the tent instead of on the field. Why? Because coaches can’t really test those three-safety looks they’ve been experimenting with since the first depth chart came out.

Arthur Blank’s unwavering commitment to the team

While Henry Black headed to the blue tent, there was one guy watching from above, just like always: Arthur Blank. The man’s always there for his team. Actually, that’s his trademark across every team he owns: the Falcons, Atlanta United, and even his new Atlanta Drive golf venture.

It’s hands-on without being overbearing, and that matters to the players. “I love being connected to whatever business I’m in. Whether it’s football, soccer, or golf. I love being close to the players,” he said in the mid-game interview.

And for fans wondering if the owner’s really locked in day-to-day? Just scroll through the team’s own feeds. Whether it’s camp ot other preseason coverage, it’s full of Arthur Blank front and center. That kind of visibility has a steadying effect, especially in these jittery stretches where the scoreboard doesn’t matter nearly as much as clean evaluations and walking out healthy.

And when asked what he’s looking forward to the most in the 2025 season? The answer was simple: It’s the young core. “25% of production on our offense last season came from players who were 25 or younger,” he said. And yes, the core of this year’s roster is young.

Michael Penix Jr. is obviously at the center of this group. The defense got a real youth injection too, with rookies Jalon Walker, James Pearce Jr., Xavier Watts, and Billy Bowman Jr. in the fold. All four have the chops to be starters by 2025, and if they hit, the whole look of a unit that’s been grinding for years could flip fast. Exciting times ahead for Arthur and The Falcons.