Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman is already beginning to feel a level of comfort with new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian takes over for Kyle Shanahan after his departure in February to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
“Definitely a players’ coach,” Freeman said, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “The thing I like about him is he’s very flexible with every guy on the team — the whole coaching staff is. If it’s something that we have a problem running, we can go to him and talk to him about it and explain [it]. And I believe that if it’s a good enough reason, he’ll let us do it our way. … I definitely think he’s going to put us in the best situation to have success.”
Sarkisian takes over the play-calling for an offense that was prolific last year. They were the only offense in the league to average over 30 points a game (33.8 ppg) and were second only to the New Orleans Saints in total offense. While a couple of pieces aren’t returning to the group this year, the majority of the unit remains intact.
Despite the change in coordinators, Freeman isn’t expecting much to change with the structure of the offense.
“I think it’s going to be pretty much the same thing,” Freeman said. “A few tweaks here and there, but the majority of the same play calls, the same offense.”