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Mike Smith: 'Facing Baltimore Ravens will be a great test'

Smith: 'Facing Baltimore Ravens will be a great test'
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Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith says that his younger players will face a great test when they play the Baltimore Ravens later this week.

Mike Smith has said that facing the Super Bowl champions will be a "great test" for the Atlanta Falcons.

The NFC South side will travel to the M&T Bank Stadium to face the Baltimore Ravens later this week.

The head coach told the Falcons' official website: "It's going to be the first time they've played a game, even though it's not a regular season game, it is going to be the first game that they've had in their home stadium. I know the Baltimore crowds very well, having spent time there. They're great fans.

"For us, it's another step in us evaluating our roster, that's key. We're going up there to win the football game, don't get me wrong, but most importantly we want to get an opportunity to evaluate some of these players who did really good things in the first ball game and we're going to see how they handle the second ball game.

"It will be a great test for our young guys. Both of those guys did a nice job in game one. It is going to be fun to watch them compete. They're going to be playing against another top flight quarterback in Joe Flacco, MVP in the Super Bowl, so it will be fun to watch."

The Falcons lost their first game of the pre-season to the Cincinnati Bengals.

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