By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Don’t panic.

The Falcons dropped to 0-3 in preseason games on Saturday with a 17-6 loss to Jacksonville, but that is no cause for concern for the Atlanta faithful.

After all, the Falcons themselves do not seem to be taking the entire notion of winning preseason games very seriously anyway. If you need proof, note who started the game against the Jaguars and who did not. Atlanta sat seven of their key starters.

That is not the kind of team that seems concerned about wins and losses as they are about working on specific needs and figuring out who will come out on top of positional battles prior to the first game of the regular season.

Yes, the result was a pretty ugly display against Jacksonville, despite Falcons fans hoping that Matt Ryan would shut down and shut up Jalen Ramsey after Ramsey call the star QB “overrated.”

Atlanta’s efforts against Jacksonville’s defense proved to be futile but it is worth mentioning that the Jags fielded their starters. Jacksonville adapted quickly and pressured the Falcons’ offense in a way that prevented the Dirty Birds from adjusting.

Atlanta only managed 261 total yards during the game and their rushing yards were abysmal, the majority coming from a big Tevin Coleman run.

Take that out of the equation and the Falcons only picked up 48. Overall the team only moved the ball an average of 4.7 yards per play. For good measure, Matt Ryan was also sacked three times. It was ugly.

But it’s okay.

Did you see Julio Jones on the field? Devonta Freeman? No, you did not. They haven’t lined up for a single snap during the first three preseason games and word is they may not see the field for the last tune up before the season starts either.

They don’t need to and Dan Quinn isn’t concerned about wins. So, the offense looked like a mess but they were missing two of the most dynamic pieces – just like for those first two losses.

Looking back on the games against the Jets and Chiefs, it’s more proof in the pudding.

In the game against New York, Atlanta’s starting defense made what amounted to a cameo appearance, disappearing quickly after just a handful of snaps.

The Falcons lost that game, of course, but what’s important is that when the team’s actual defense left the game, the Jets hadn’t put a single point on the board.

The players that ended up losing that game, to New York’s starters, are not going to be making an on-field impact during the regular season.

This kind of thing is par for the course for Dan Quinn and the Atlanta Falcons. Quinn likes to run prospects out during preseason and the results are what you would expect.

There are plenty of reasons for it. Julio Jones doesn’t need to prove anything, for example and it isn’t hard to imagine that Freeman’s preseason concussion from a few years back is a factor in the decision making. Why risk injury to your impact players when the wins and losses don’t matter?

It is also worth pointing out that last year the Falcons laid an egg in the preseason, going 0-4 and everything turned out fine to the tune of a 10-6 season and a playoff run.

There is always a sense of disappointment in a poor preseason showing. They are the first competitive football games since the Superbowl in the winter, after all.

However, the record isn’t the result that matters. This Falcons team is shaping up to potentially be a dominant force in the NFC, 0-4 or otherwise.

So, don’t panic.