Former Clemson DE Vic Beasley walks out onto the stage after he was selected eighth overall by the Atlanta Falcons during the first round of the NFL Draft on April 30, 2015 in Chicago. Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- After another sackless game, the whispers about Atlanta Falcons defensive end Vic Beasley are getting louder.

Is he a pass rusher? Is he too small to rush from defensive end? Can he turn the corner?


And, yes, finally, is he a bust?

The Falcons, who are set to face Oakland and emerging quarterback star Derek Carr, need to generate a pass rush and were counting on Beasley to be the ring leader.

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Beasley was taken with the eighth overall pick in 2015, two picks before the Rams selected running back Todd Gurley.

He predicted that he'd be a double-digit sacker as a rookie, but ended up with just four sacks.

Bealsey played 39 snaps against Tampa Bay, but did not record a tackle.

"He played mostly in the nickel package," Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. "We had about 40 snaps in nickel and maybe 15 or 20 in our base package in this game. Outside we felt like he had some pressure and did some nice things, as you went back all the way through the tape he didn't affect the game enough."

The Falcons didn't have a sack, but had six hits according to the team's stats.

"The quarterback hits came from the other side," Quinn said. "One time, he went high and created some other opportunities for some guys down low. It didn't show up in the stat sheet some of the work that he did."

Ideally, Quinn and defensive coordinator Richard Smith would love to create a pass rush from the front-four defensive line players.

But after not registering a sack against Tampa Bay, the Falcons are considering blitzing more to manufacture some pressure and sacks.

Quinn figured that the Falcons blitzed Tampa Bay about 10 times. Two of their credited five quarterbacks hits came off blitzes. The Falcons counted six quarterback hits.

When the Falcons blitz, they have more man-to-man coverage and are counting on rookie De'Vondre Campbell to hold up in coverage against backs and tight ends. He was called for a defensive holding on Tampa Bay's Austin Seferian-Jenkins on the first defensive possession.

"We're pleased to see him at the line of scrimmage being able to challenge," Quinn said. "That's going to be a factor for us and one that we knew we wanted to be able to do. I was anxious to see him and Kemal Ishmael."

Rookie safety Keanu Neal, who's likely to return against the Saints at the earliest, was also drafted to help cover backs and tight ends.

"We knew that was going to be a factor with Keanu Neal and so with him out we're going to ask Ish to step up and do some things as well," Quinn said. "It's definitely a plan of what we want do, and we started that somewhat (against Tampa Bay)."

The Falcons had a tough time getting to Winston, who threw some accurate passes when he was under duress.

"For us not to get him down there were some hits like we addressed earlier, but it's still a factor when you get the guy wrapped up and you're taking a shot at the ball on the way down," Quinn said.

NOTES: WR Julio Jones (ankle), WR Mohamed Sanu (ankle), and RB Devonta Freeman (quadriceps) were limited in practice on Wednesday. ... CB Desmond Trufant recorded his and the team's first interception of the season against Tampa Bay. The interception was Trufant's seventh interception of his career. ... DE Brooks Reed, who suffered a shoulder injury against Tampa Bay, did not practice with the team on Wednesday. ... DE Dwight Freeney (not injury related) did not practice on Wednesday. ... SS Keanu Neal, who recovering from knee surgery, is running off to the side with the team's trainers.