As part of the 2025 training camp, the Atlanta Falcons hosted two joint practices with the Tennessee Titans at the IBM Performance Field in Flowery Branch, Georgia, on August 12 and August 13. Although both practices offered multiple headline-worthy highlights, one incident from Day 2, in particular, garnered widespread attention from the media. As you may have already guessed, it was Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. getting into a scuffle with the Titans.
On August 13, Penix’s deep pass to WR Ray-Ray McCloud III during practice led to some heated conversations between Titan defenders and Penix. And that ultimately resulted in Penix ending up on the ground, at the bottom of a pile of players. Thankfully, nobody got hurt, and the dispute was resolved soon. That said, there was one teeny tiny highlight that barely made it to the media. It was the Atlanta Falcons having TikToker Easton Simpson prank the Falcons and Titans on the field.
Simpson is an influencer known for his viral mumbling pranks. So what exactly are these pranks like? Well, the pranks basically involve talking gibberish to people in a serious tone to get funny reactions from them as they try and fail to respond to the mumbling. Simpson was brought to the field for doing what he does best, and he ended up pranking Falcons safety Jessie Bates III, linebacker Kaden Elliss, Titans defensive end Jeffery Simmons, and linebacker Arden Key. So how exactly did the four respond to Simpson’s mumbling?
The video of them being pranked was shared on the Falcons’ official X profile, and their reactions were hilarious, to say the least. Simpson’s strategy was simple: Under the pretense of interviewing each player, ask them a question that hides gibberish in between a few actual words. Speaking to Elliss, Simpson asked, “Coach Morris was talking … about you [gibberish]?” After Simpson repeated his question on Elliss’ request, the latter said, in a rather clueless-but-still-confident manner, “Getting to be called that by Morris means a lot.” Then came Simmons, who was asked, “Was there any point during training camp that [gibberish]?” He kept things straight as Simpson kept repeating his “question,” ending the conversation with a simple yet solid, “I don’t know what the hell you just said.”
Bates’ response was pretty similar in nature to that of Elliss. He tried to play it as safe as he could and said, “I think it’s good evaluation for everybody.” Simpson’s last target was Key, whom the former asked, “As everyone’s out here, you guys are with the Falcons, you guys are here in Atlanta, is there any point like [gibberish]?” Key initially responded with a couple of yeahs but failed to justify his answer when asked. His exact words were, “Just because… [long pause] …. Man you crazy.” The ending of the video showed Simpson breaking the news to the players and getting a laugh out of all four.
Mumbling interviews to Falcons and Titans players at joint practice pic.twitter.com/8YqNYbrDYG
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) August 14, 2025
With all that said, pranks haven’t always panned out well for the Falcons, especially one that took the internet and media by storm during the last NFL Draft.
The Atlanta Falcons and DC Jeff Ulbrich pay dearly to compensate for a prank call
During the 2025 NFL Draft, Jax Ulbrich, the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, and an unnamed friend of his prank-called then-NFL hopeful Shedeur Sanders. Pretending to be Mickey Loomis, the general manager of the New Orleans Saints, he told the latter that he’d been selected. But the call didn’t go unchecked as a mere “prank.” After reports of the NFL investigating the call emerged, the Falcons issued a statement revealing the identity of the caller and apologizing to Shedeur and his father, Deion Sanders (former Falcon and current head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes).
The statement read, in part, “Earlier in the week, Jax Ulbrich, the 21-year-old son of defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, unintentionally came across the draft contact phone number for Shedeur Sanders off an open iPad while visiting his parent’s home and wrote the number down to later conduct a prank call. Jeff Ulbrich was unaware of the data exposure.”
The NFL ended up fining the Falcons $250,000 and Ulbrich $100,000 for failing to protect confidential information that his team was provided with before the draft, i.e., Shedeur’s phone number. Jeff issued a public apology to Deion and Shedeur, and Jax posted his own apology on Instagram.
As it seems, pranks can either have boundaries or consequences. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
The post Atlanta Falcons Prank Their Own Players at Camp After Jeff Ulbrich Debacle During NFL Draft appeared first on EssentiallySports.