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What to watch for: Redskins-Falcons

The NFL season officially begins in earnest this week with the start of the preseason for all 32 teams. Around The NFL's Conor Orr dissects what you can expect to see from the 16 games this weekend.

*Here's what to what to watch for ... *

» How is Kirk Cousins looking? Some, like Good Morning Football's own Peter Schrager expect Cousins to lead the NFL in passing this year, while others (including Cousins' own general manager) want to wait and see before committing long term. Investing too much in preseason performances with vanilla plays against vanilla coverages isn't wise, but it would be nice to see him replicate some of that practice sharpness we've been hearing so much about in a live situation against an improving secondary.

» Who fills out the Atlanta secondary behind Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford? With Trufant just coming back from a hip injury, we'd expect his playing time to be limited. Same for Alford if the Falcons don't want to risk losing one of their top three corners so early on in camp. Jalen Collins' suspension opens the door for some like Akeem King to make plays in a big spot.

» Does Atlanta dance around run-game prep? The strength of the team this year will be the running game and its ability to free up Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, which means it's probably wise to keep touches for Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman to a minimum. That probably goes for new center Alex Mack snaps as well.

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