Takkarist McKinley should be next in the line of the second-year breakout players on the Atlanta Falcons' defense.
He knows he needs to be healthy to make that next step and now he's trying to move past another shoulder injury.
McKinley has had surgeries on both shoulders the last two years 鈥?the right following his 2016 season at UCLA and the left following his 2017 rookie season with the Falcons.
A new problem Broncos Cheap Jerseys , a bruised right shoulder, has prevented the second-year defensive end from participating in team drills for most of the start of training camp. He again was limited to individual drills on Monday.
The Falcons say there's no structural problem, but McKinley's status is uncertain for Atlanta's preseason opener at the New York Jets on Friday night.
McKinley said Monday he's never happy "when you're not out there on the field. When I play football, I'm not trying to be on the sideline, I'm trying to be out there on the field."
Coach Dan Quinn said "Takk" could be cleared for full participation on Tuesday, so he hasn't been ruled out for the game against the Jets.
The Falcons likely will take a cautious approach with McKinley, the 2017 first-round pick whose health is a key to continued improvement by the defense.
He had six sacks as a rookie backup in 2017. The Falcons hope he can earn a starting job and emerge as another player who makes significant progress in his second year.
"It will happen with Takk," Quinn said Monday. "We'll see that jump from him."
McKinley said Quinn has talked with him about how the team's other projected starting defensive end, Vic Beasley Jr., led the NFL with 15 1/2 sacks in 2016, his second season. Quinn also told McKinley about safety Keanu Neal and linebackers Deion Jones and De'Vondre Campbell earning Pro Bowl honors in their second seasons and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett also breaking out in his second year.
"Obviously I'm trying to be on the good side, not the slump side. It's one of those things where you've got to prove yourself to be better."
McKinley actually proved a lot as a rookie. After his six sacks in the regular season, he added two more in the playoffs.
"Looking back I should have had at least 13 sacks if I had finished," he said, adding he missed opportunities when he would "reach out with your arms instead of wrapping up."
Adrian Clayborn led the Falcons with 9 1/2 sacks last season before signing with New England. Clayborn's departure opens the way for McKinley and Beasley, now a full-time end after spending time at outside linebacker last season, to be the starting ends.
Even when he's not on the practice field, McKinley said he's preparing for the bigger workload as a starter.
"When I'm not there on 11 on 11, I'm trying to stay in shape and do things inside to get me prepared for the reps I'm going to have this season," he said. "That's probably the biggest thing, just understanding that I'm going to be playing more."
NOTES: Former six-time Pro Bowl receiver Chad Johnson visited practice and posed for a photo with Falcons receivers Julio Jones Cheap Jaire Alexander Jersey , Mohamed Sanu and Calvin Ridley. ... The Falcons have ruled out PK Matt Bryant (undisclosed injury) and OT Ty Sambrailo (right hand) for the preseason opener. Bryant, 44, was on the field during part of the practice. Quinn said Bryant "is coming along quickly but he's not there yet."
A Tennessee judge issued a $20 million bond Wednesday for the ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright in his shooting death nearly eight years ago.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee said his decision to give Sherra Wright such a high bond was partly driven by her bad behavior while being held at a women’s jail on murder and attempted murder charges in her ex-husband’s slaying.
Lorenzen Wright played for 13 seasons as a forward and center in the NBA, including several for the Grizzlies in Memphis, where he was born and raised.
His decomposing, bullet-riddled body was found in a swampy field in suburban Memphis on July 28, 2010 – 10 days after the 34-year-old was reported missing. In an affidavit read in court by prosecutor Paul Hagerman, witnesses said she masterminded a plan to have two men kill Lorenzen Wright at his home in Atlanta, but that attempt failed.
Authorities said she and Billy Turner then conspired to kill him in Memphis, and they dumped one of the guns used in the shooting in a Mississippi lake. One witness cited in the affidavit said Sherra Wright identified the spot where her ex-husband’s body would be found, days before it was discovered.
Turner also has been charged with murder and attempted murder. He is being held on $15 million bond. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Sherra Wright received $1 million from her ex-husband’s life insurance policy. She was arrested in December in California Cheap Leighton Vander Esch Jersey , where she had lived for three years after moving away from Memphis.
Her lawyer Blake Ballin argued the 47-year-old is indigent, has no serious crimes on her record and has strong ties to the community in asking for a $100,000 bond. Ballin said Wright would live with her brother in Shelby County if she were to be released on bond.
”Mrs. Wright has no criminal history of a violent nature,” Ballin said.
Coffee noted her family connections but gave more weight to her repeated instances of unruly behavior in jail. Hagerman cited six instances where she was written up by jail guards, including three the day before her bond hearing.
On Tuesday, Wright was caught passing items to another inmate, Hagerman said. Later, she allegedly took off her clothes, flooded her jail cell and verbally insulted and threatened jail guards with language Coffee called abusive and offensive.
While flooding her cell, Wright said she was ”going swimming,” an indication of her troubled mental state Tremaine Edmunds Color Rush Jersey , Coffee said. The judge called Wright’s actions the day before her bond hearing ”absolutely shocking and mind numbing” and said she presents a danger to the community.
”I cannot trust her,” Coffee said.
Wright shook her head repeatedly during Coffee’s lecture, during which he also said there is a ”reasonable likelihood of conviction” in the case.
As she was leaving the courtroom with court officers, Wright addressed the judge.
”Thank you, your honor,” she said.
Wright faces up to life in prison plus 50 years if convicted on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.