Five things to know at start of Falcons’ OTAs

Team gets all 10 sessions after serving penalty last season
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff take in the first day of rookie-mini-camp on Friday, May 11, 2018, in Flowery Branch.  Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff take in the first day of rookie-mini-camp on Friday, May 11, 2018, in Flowery Branch. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

The Falcons, who will have their full allotment of 10 organized training activities (OTAs) sessions this season, start the glorified practices Monday.

» More: Falcons depth chart as OTAs start

Here are five things to know about the OTAs:

1. Where's Julio? Falcons All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones has spent most of the offseason working out in Alabama and some times back in Atlanta while tending to his wide-ranging business portfolio. He's expected to maintain the once-a-week OTA schedule that was taught to him by Roddy White. Wednesday's session will be partially open to the media. There's a report that he wants his contract "updated," but no one has talked to Jones about the matter.

2. The Master plan. These are the first steps in the Falcons' master plan to spruce up the offense and start getting their timing down on offense. They want to fix their big-play ability and scoring in the red zone. The young defense must continue to improve and the special teams must make a major leap for the Falcons to overtake the Saints in the NFC South in 2018.

3. Non-contact. The Falcons were penalized with the loss of three sessions last season for allowing too much contact in 2016.

The other OTAs will be held on Wednesday and Thursday. May 30-31, June 1, June 4-5 and June 7. That’s just nine dates, but the team has the option to add the 10th session.

The Falcons mandatory minicamp will be held June 12-14.

4. Phase 3. The Falcons "voluntary" nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases and this is the final part.

Phase 3 consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of OTAs. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

5. Due diligence. Before last season's sessions, coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff went to New York to review their film and see where they violated the rules.

Last season, they toned down the OTAs because they didn’t want to be in the league’s repeat-offender program.

Seattle was cited as a repeat offender and lost a fifth-round pick in the 2017 draft and fined $400,000, and coach Pete Carroll was fined $200,000.