FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Olamide Zaccheaus spent his first four NFL seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. He saw 25 wins and 40 losses and never made the playoffs. He spent the next three seasons in Philadelphia, Washington and Chicago, where his teams went 34-17 and played in six playoff games.“I’ve experienced a different side of the league,” Zaccheaus said this week.Zaccheaus, a 28-year-old wide receiver out of Virginia who initially made the Falcons roster as an undrafted free agent, is back in Atlanta hoping to use that experience to help stabilize the NFL’s second-leakiest ship (only the New York Jets have a longer playoff drought than the Falcons’ eight years).“I know what it should look like, what it should feel like,” he said. “That’s part of what I bring to a team, building that culture. I have always prided myself on being a locker room guy. That’s a part of my role here.”It’s too early to tell, Zaccheaus said, if these Falcons can turn things around, but there are markers he will be looking for.“There are certain core values that the whole team has to uphold,” he said. “The best teams are player-led. A lot of the policing should be player-to-player instead of (by) the coaches. It applies on the field and off the field. It’s just knowing that everybody is doing what they’re supposed to be doing. And if they’re not, somebody that they play with is saying something.”That message from Zaccheaus was the overarching theme of Atlanta’s first week of OTAs, as words like foundation, culture and identity were echoed in every interview.“It’s fun getting out here and working on the identity of the team. That’s one of the big emphases: We’re going to find out who we are,” right guard Chris Lindstrom said. “At least the temperature around here so far is trying to be about what Coach is saying: accountable, tough and smart. And so we’re gonna try and do that. Our job is to pour into the vision that the coaches have.”The result, the Falcons hope, will be to snap a streak of eight consecutive losing seasons. Atlanta’s new coaching staff will be evaluating everything from the field to the weight room to the meeting rooms, first-year head coach Kevin Stefanski said, though he emphasized that Phase 1 of OTAs is only the beginning of that process.“You have to guard against making too strong proclamations from what’s out there on the grass because the guys are in helmets,” Stefanski said. “They’re not (in) shells, they’re not (in) pads, there’s no tackling, sometimes there’s no pass rush. You do have to guard against saying in either direction that there’s an evaluation of a player on such a small sample size.”Lots of cooks in the kitchenThe Falcons’ offensive coaching staff is probably fortunate that most of their families haven’t moved to town yet, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said, because many hours of meetings were required to put together a scheme from many different parts. Atlanta has five coaches who have called plays at the NFL level — Stefanski, Rees, quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand and offensive line coach Bill Callahan.“This staff is phenomenal,” said Engstrand, who was the Jets’ offensive coordinator for one season before being fired. “We’re all still trying to figure out exactly what our role is going to be. Once we get into the game planning, we have some good guys to put those things together.”Feeling like a new guyLindstrom is beginning his eighth NFL season but still felt like a “baby deer” on Tuesday as he tried to learn a new practice regimen under Callahan after five seasons under Dwayne Ledford.“Had to get my legs back under me,” he said. “I joked that, yesterday, I almost felt like a rookie. I used to know the exact drill order, knew how to do them. It’s good learning different stuff and different techniques and another way to do it.”It hasn’t been the only adjustment, either. This will be the first season Lindstrom has played without right tackle Kaleb McGary, who was drafted 17 spots after Lindstrom in the first round in 2019 but retired this offseason.“I really love Kaleb,” Lindstrom said. “He felt it was time for him to be done, and so as his friend, I’m really just supporting him. It is kind of weird, though. Jake (Matthews) and I joked that it’s weird not having Kaleb’s goofy butt out here doing Kaleb stuff. We definitely miss him, but I know he’s happy.”In other offensive line news, Michael Jerrell was working at first-team right tackle Tuesday, with Jawaan Taylor and Storm Norton not spotted on the field at the time.Injury updateFourth-round rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels watched Tuesday’s workout wearing a boot on his right foot, adding his name to the list of injuries to watch this offseason.Linebacker Troy Andersen, cornerback Billy Bowman and edge rusher Bralen Trice, all of whom are returning from significant injuries in 2025, were in attendance, but Trice was the only one who appeared to get significant on-field work.“I’m not gonna go through each person,” Stefanski said. “I would tell you everybody’s doing really well. They’re all in different stages of what they can do.”The rookie to watchEvery NFL camp every year has an undrafted free-agent rookie that the fan base latches onto and decides should make the roster. The early front-runner for the spot this year is Georgia running back Cash Jones, who has been working with the receivers early in his professional career.“This is a very, very smart football player,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, Georgia fans know the type of player he is and the plays that he’s made in the course of his career. … The intelligence part of this is you can’t just have a guy go from running back to wide receiver or vice-versa if they’re not intelligent.”Special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman is already scheming ways to use Jones on his units, too.“He’s a smart and instinctual football player,” Aukerman said. “That’s what we saw on film at Georgia.”Ryan’s role so farMatt Ryan, the Falcons’ all-time leading passer-turned president of football, wasn’t sure exactly what his role would look like after hiring Stefanski and general manager Ian Cunningham. On Tuesday, the role was interested practice observer.Ryan stood behind most of the drills, occasionally talking to players, including former teammates Lindstrom and Zaccheaus.“Obviously, he’s a smart guy, a league MVP, and his eyes, his opinion, everything is always a value, and he was an incredible teammate,” Lindstrom said. “Just having him around is great, and the competitor energy that he (brings) is awesome.”So far, Rees said he has had to ask Ryan to express his opinion more rather than ask him to back off.“He does a great job of finding that balance,” Rees said. “He’s a tremendous resource for not only the staff but the players as well.”A new-look run gameBijan Robinson, who had a career-high 1,478 rushing yards last year, said the run game being installed by Callahan (who will serve as the Falcons’ run game coordinator) is similar to the system he ran at Texas.“Obviously, (Callahan) has had these legendary run schemes, and it’s pretty cool talking to him and seeing how it’s all going to develop,” Robinson said. “I love the plan that he has.”