Reese eager to face former Philadelphia teammates

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Ike Reese harbors no bitterness toward the Philadelphia Eagles.

Once he realized his seven-year tenure with the Eagles would end seven months ago, Reese had no choice but to test the market. He received just the offer he wanted when the Atlanta Falcons signed him to a four-year contract only one week into free agency.

"Hey, no hard feelings," Reese said this week. "I understand how this business operates. Rather than choose to focus on what the Eagles didn't do, my take on this whole thing is looking at what Atlanta did for me. That's what matters. They wanted me."

Reese hoped the Falcons would want him even though Philadelphia beat Atlanta convincingly in the NFC championship game. The Falcons' disappointment on that frozen night eight months ago paled in comparison to what the Eagles endured in losing the Super Bowl to New England.

Fortunately for Reese, a trip to Hawaii followed the next week because players, coaches and fans had voted him onto the NFC Pro Bowl squad as the team's lone special teams entry. Reese bonded instantly with special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis, who joined the rest of the Atlanta staff in coaching the NFC in the league's annual all-star game.

"You had a pretty good idea Ike would fit in, just based on the time we spent together at the Pro Bowl," DeCamillis said. "I respected him since day one because we'd played against the Eagles enough to see how good they were on special teams. Now that Ike's been here since the first day of mini-camp, my respect for him has grown. The guy has amazing leadership skills."

The Falcons, who open the season Monday night against Philadelphia, hope to improve on kickoff and punt coverage units that were already pretty good. Under DeCamillis, an Atlanta assistant since 1997, the Falcons have led the NFL in punt returns allowed with an average of just 5.3 yards.

They surrendered only 4.1 yards per return last season, 1.6 better than second-place Miami. Kickoff coverage ranked sixth with a 19.9 average.

"That's music to my ears," Reese said. "At the same time, we can always get better. We can always improve on things because you're always striving for perfection."

Having lost the starting job at strongside linebacker to second-year veteran Demorrio Williams, Reese knows his roles in Atlanta will be similar to what he had with the Eagles - serve as an emergency starter on defense and back up all three positions while giving the coverage and return units an emotional and mental edge.

"I personally miss Ike because he's such a good person and I enjoyed having him on this football team," Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said. "I think you guys have probably found that out about him. He is a good leader. Now I don't want to take anything away from the guys who are here, either. We've got some good leaders on this football team. They're picking up that slack."

It was inevitable this week that Reese would field questions about Philadelphia's ability to shut down the Falcons' offense in the second half of the NFC title game. Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson used a combination of heavy pressure from ends Jevon Kearse, Derrick Burgess and Jerome McDougle and blitzing from linebackers Keith Adams, Jeremiah Trotter and Dhani Jones to seal off the escape lanes of Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick.

The Falcons had no receivers capable of creating separation in coverage from a secondary that included three Pro Bowl selections in Brian Dawkins, Michael Lewis and Lito Sheppard.

"Everybody pretty much knows those guys are some of the best in the business," Reese said. "But I know our offense can hold their own on Monday night. Dawkins and those guys haven't faced Michael Jenkins and Roddy White. Those guys add another dimension to our attack."