FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Keith Brooking was ecstatic about his return to the weakside linebacker position this season.
He made five straight Pro Bowl from 2001 to 2005 playing at that spot before injuries and personnel required a shift to middle linebacker.
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"Keith has been very efficient working the weakside linebacker," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "I think it puts our best 11 guys on the field in the positions they feel most comfortable in."
However, Brooking's production, in number of tackles, has dropped.
The NFL does not keep tackles as an official stat, in part because teams count them differently. The league records the game day statistics that are compiled. The Falcons coaches count their tackles after film review.
According to the league's unofficial stats, Brooking has 22 tackles this season. According the Falcons, he has 32. He's on pace to have 88 tackles according to the league stats or 128 according to the Falcons stats. Over the past five seasons, Brooking has averaged 167.4 tackles.
Brooking is still happy about the move back to weakside linebacker.
"It's been great," Brooking said. "I feel like I'm getting more and more comfortable with the position with every week in the system."
He knows that his numbers are off.
"My production is not there yet, to where it's been in the past but I just have to stay in the scheme and eventually those games will come and those plays will come," Brooking said.
Smith is just fine with Brooking's production and how he's playing.
"Opportunities for production will be based on how they present the offense," Smith said. "I think that he's doing well in terms of when opportunities have presented themselves, he's been very efficient."
The weakside linebacker in Smith's defense doesn't have freedom to roam all over the field.
"When you are playing the (weakside) linebacker in our scheme if they present plays you've got an opportunity to be a run and hit linebacker," Smith said. "You can't talk about a guy's production if he doesn't get the opportunity to make the plays if they are going the other way."
Brooking still shifts to middle linebacker when the Falcons go into their nickel package. They've been playing a lot of zone and he's usually dropping into coverage.
"My thing is not to press too much and go out of the system to create a play," Brooking said. "I'm just being where I'm supposed to be on every play, playing with everything that I have. Those plays, there will be games when they come to me. I'm just letting them come to me and not go outside the system."
Some teams are testing rookie middle linebacker Curtis Lofton (26 tackles on unofficial league stats, 31 on Falcons' stats) before they try to run on Brooking's side.
"Curtis is playing well," Brooking said. "He's progressing. I love his mentality. He has all of the physical ability in the world and he's a professional."
Also Michael Boley's side of the field is getting a lot of action. Boley and Coy Wire, who started one game because of neck injury to Boley, have 26 (league) or 29 (Falcons) tackles.
There's another reason why Brooking's tackle numbers may be off. The offense has put up two big leads, forcing Detroit and Kansas City to pass the football.
The Falcons jumped out to a 21-0 lead on Detroit and 24-0 on Kansas City.
"In the two games that we've won, our offense has done a good job of staying on the field," Brooking said. "We've been great in the run game. We're sitting over there drinking Kool-Aid and resting our legs.
"That's a very positive thing. The couple of games that we haven't started real fast, our offense has gotten it going a little later. It's just the way it's played out."
D. Orlando Ledbetter writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: dledbetter AT ajc.com
