Sintim's Ready

Clint Sintim aquitted himself fairly well in some limited defensive action against San Diego, making two tackles and a quarterback hit, and looking solid in mostly coverage duties at strongside linebacker.

Now, he's ready for more. But he should be careful what he asks for. The Falcons sport a future Hall-of-Fame tight end in Tony Gonzalez, and the second-round rookie might just have to cover him.

Gonazalez is the Falcons' second-leading pass-catcher with 44 grabs for 501 yards (11.4-yard average) and four touchdowns. And Sintim has been following his career ever since he began to understand football. So, as you'll see in this video, the rookie will welcome any opportunity to test himself against the veteran.



It's not that Gonzalez is a great pass-catcher, either. He's tough on pass protection and in run-blocking, too.

"He's a tough mismatch for defenses, whether you cover him with a linebacker or you cover him with a safety or a corner," Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan said. "He presents different problems for all three.

"In addition to that, when he's on the field he's a great blocker for us as well and has done a great job in the run game. He's very versatile at what he can do. He can go out and pass catch, does a lot of things for us on third down, and in the Red Zone. He can also line up and block defensive ends and help spark the running game."

Sintim thinks he's up to the task, however. And he said he's ready to prove himself after a slow comeback from a groin injury that cost him the first four games of the season. At this point, he's an upgrade over the slower and older Danny Clark, at least on obvious passing downs.

EP