by D. Orlando Ledbetter; Staff , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

He's not worried about quarterback Matt Ryan, defensive end John Abraham or running back Michael Turner. He's looking at the back of the roster, the rookies, second-year players and free agents who likely will make up his special-teams units.

"The biggest thing, obviously, we are looking at is attitude," Armstrong said. "That's the one thing with a lot of the rookies who are going to have to make an adjustment."

Armstrong is also looking for intensity.

"It's probably the biggest thing that they have to adjust to," he said.

Last season, while Ryan, Turner and Abraham were stealing the headlines, the Falcons' special teams were turning in strong performances.

The punt-coverage unit set a league mark for fewest return yards allowed with 49, four better than the previous mark set by the 1991 Buffalo Bills. The kickoff-coverage unit allowed 24.6 yards per return, fourth-best in the NFL.

Kickoff returner Jerious Norwood was fifth in the league in the percentage of returns (70.6) that went for 20 yards or more, and rookie Harry Douglas made four returns of 20 yards or more, including a 61-yard touchdown against Carolina.

Also, place-kicker Jason Elam won two games on the final play.

Armstrong has been studying the players who might play on special teams this season because he knows coach Mike Smith expects a strong encore.

"We are trying to get faster as a Football team, and I think when you are faster, one of the areas where that will show up is your special teams," Smith said. "Not to put any pressure on Keith and that unit, but we expect to see improvement."

A key area for Armstrong is getting the new players used to the nuances and different rules of the pro game.

The biggest special-teams rule change calls for only two-man wedges on kickoff returns, a change brought about because of some severe injuries suffered by players trying to bust up three- and four-man wedges.

Antoine Harris, one of the Falcons' top coverage-unit players last season, likes his coach's attitude.

"Keith is a great coach; he gets us fired up," Harris said. "A lot of times when you come in the meetings, he'll have something off the top to say. Sometimes it's out of left field.

"[Recently] we were working on punt block and when he said, '1, 2, 3,' everybody in the whole room said, 'Take the ground that belongs to me.' When you come in the room, you can just feel the energy."

Armstrong would like for the punt protection to improve. He's still mad about two blocked punts last season, and there were a few big returns that he would like to have eliminated.

"For the most part we dominated, but there were some big plays that slipped out," Armstrong said.

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