Atlanta Falcons live and under the lights of Friday night

Falcons players greet fans following scrimmage at Friday Night Lights, 8/7/09

It wasn't a real game, but for the first week of training camp it wasn't so bad. 

For the over 12,300 fans that showed up at Brookwood High School's Brookwood Community Stadium in Snellville, Georgia Friday night it was just another night of Friday night football, but with a twist.

The twist was the Atlanta Falcons.

As part of Allstate All-Access Weekend, the team hit the road Friday to scrimmage under the lights in one of the most football-crazed communities in the nation.

No one left disappointed.

Not even Head Coach Mike Smith, who acknowledged after the game, that he knew mistakes would be there but he wanted to see intensity from his team.

"There were a lot of mistakes," Smith said. "We told our guys that we were going to make mistakes, in this first, real live work that we've had. But they were playing very, very hard and were enthusiastic. Their effort was there. We can correct those mistakes. I was pleased on both sides of the ball."

Unlike last year's event at Mill Creek High School, the offense won the scrimmage, 37-34, but they needed a second-half surge to get there.

Using a point system that Smith devised to allow the defense to score points for a variety of situations including three-and-outs and tackles for loss, the Falcons defense led the offense 23-11 at halftime.

Cornerback Brent Grimes led the way in the first half with a heads-up play, stripping a pass from the hands of tight end Justin Peelle, recovering it, and returning it 35 yards for a touchdown.

"That's what our coach is putting a big emphasis on now," Grimes said following the game. "Just getting to the ball and trying to take it out. Get turnovers."

The offense responded with a drive, stringing together first downs before running back Jerious Norwood took a handoff around the right side and made some players miss as he ran into the end zone.

They found their momentum and kept it to start the second half. Quarterback Matt Ryan completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to receiver Michael Jenkins and from there it was all second- and third-teamers.

Running back Thomas Brown got a heavy dose of runs late in the game and looked impressive, tying the score with a touchdown run in a goal line situation, following a couple of consecutive first-down runs.

With the loss of punt returner/receiver Harry Douglas, one of the ways Brown can make the team is by playing well as the third running back, but also as a return man.

"I thought Thomas ran the ball well in between the tackles, especially," Smith said of Brown's performance. "I thought he got some hidden yardage there as he ran up inside."

At its heart, it was just another practice, but for most the Friday Night Lights event was much more.

Smith said earlier in the day that he and the franchise have a passion for high school football and want to have good relationships with area high schools. Duluth High School attended a team practice earlier in the week. Smith felt the experience was positive all around, for the fans and the players, whom he said many are only a short time removed from their own Friday night high school memories.

"It's a great environment for everybody; our players really enjoy it," said Smith. "Most of these guys are not too far removed from high school. They remember coming out and playing on a high school field. And it's a great way in my mind to finish the first week of training camp because you get tired of hitting the same guys in the same place. We're still hitting the same guys but we're doing it in a different place."

One of the Falcons is very familiar with Brookwood; kicker Jason Elam is a graduate, Class of '88. He'd been looking forward to this event for weeks, returning to the field where memories were made and dreams began.

"I spent hours and hours and hours out on this field, just kicking, all by myself," Elam said Friday night. "In rain, every kind of condition you can think of, so it was a lot of fun to come back. This was kind of a dream when I was at Brookwood, to be able to do something like I'm doing. It was a great thing."

Additional Training Camp coverage

I always love to hear what you've got to say. Leave a comment or email me for the Weekly Mailbag: jdanielcox@gmail.com. Click "subscribe" to receive emails whenever a new article is posted. Follow me on Twitter.