Falcons rumors: Dontari Poe won’t have a snap count in Atlanta

The Atlanta Falcons sound like they’re going to use Dontari Poe in the same way he was employed by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dan Quinn has a plan for how he wants to use Dontari Poe. The Atlanta Falcons head coach says he will not have his new defensive tackle on a snap count despite the high number of snaps Poe has played in the past—and despite back injuries in the past as well.

Poe has 4,242 defensive snaps played in his five year history with the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s a heavy workload given to him by coaches who took advantage of his incredible stamina and athleticism. Poe found a limited market despite having multiple suitors in free agency and had to settle on a one-year deal with the Falcons. Now he’ll have a chance to showcase his skills on a new team in hopes of landing a multi-year deal next offseason.

"“I want to feature him where we are really are going to try to penetrate and play aggressive,” Quinn said to the Journal-Constitution. “We’ll see how it goes as we get into the season. (We want) to just have him at his best the whole time. I didn’t put a number on it, but he’s been accustomed to being able to play a pretty high rep count for a long time.”"

Poe’s stats fell to only 27 total tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2016, and he was clearly playing at a lower level than his Pro Bowl seasons of years past. If Quinn wants to see Poe at his best, the coach will be wise about how much playing time he’s willing to give him.