‘Slept on My Whole Life’: How Falcons DB Won Starting Job, Plans to Seize Opportunity

Atlanta Falcons cornerback Mike Hughes has a resume littered with illustrious accolades — and deafening heartbreak.

All-Conference and All-American selection at the University of Central Florida. First-round NFL draft pick in 2018. Starter of 22 games at the sport’s highest level.

Then, there’s the other side.

Three schools — the University of North Carolina, Garden City Community College, UCF — in as many years, with suspensions and degree timing thwarting his plans. Two season-ending injuries in his first three NFL seasons. Playing on four different NFL teams in his first six years.

Yet when the Falcons begin the 2024 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Hughes will take the field as one of Atlanta’s two starting corners, joining A.J. Terrell.

Hughes, who took over as the Falcons’ nickel corner over the final four games last season, won this summer’s competition with second-year pro Clark Phillips III for the right to start at outside corner.

Phillips entered the spring as the favorite to start. Few on the outside talked about Hughes as a serious threat in the conversation. He didn’t care.

“That’s cool,” Hughes told Atlanta Falcons on SI during training camp. “I’ve kind of been slept on my whole life.”

Hughes arrived at North Carolina in 2015 with an illustrious track record. He was a first-team all-state player as a high school senior, leading New Bern High School to a 15-0 record and North Carolina state title. He starred at cornerback, but also worked as the team’s quarterback and punt.

Rated as high as a 4-star recruit, Hughes chose the Tar Heels. He played in 13 games and made 11 tackles to go along with three passes defended.

However, in the middle of the season, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon/inflicting serious injury. He was suspended for one game before playing the rest of the year.

Upon season’s end, Hughes left North Carolina, transferring to Garden City Community College. He thrived, and initially committed to the University of South Carolina — but because he didn’t graduate from Garden City in time due to time constraints, the Gamecocks were off the table.

So, Hughes went to UCF. He was a quiet newcomer, Falcons safety and former UCF star Richie Grant said, but had a good fall camp and won a starting job late.

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In 13 games with the Knights, Hughes recorded 49 tackles, four interceptions, 11 passes defended and a pair of kick return touchdowns en route to first-team All-American Athletic Conference honors. He was also an All-American as a returner.

“He balled out that season [and] he was out of there,” Grant said. “It was a quick little stint.”

Hughes parlayed his stout year at UCF into being the Minnesota Vikings’ first-round draft pick in 2018. He played in six games as a rookie, drawing a pair of starts while holding a prominent role in Minnesota’s secondary — but a torn left ACL suffered in Week 6 knocked him out for the rest of the year.

The recovery process lingered throughout the entirety of the next year, and he missed the first two weeks of the 2019 season as a result. Once he returned, Hughes appeared in 14 games with three starts.

Then, in the season finale, Hughes suffered a neck injury that put him on injured reserve and rendered him inactive for the postseason. He returned for the 2020 season and started the first two games, but he played in only four games before being shut down due to another neck ailment.

Amidst the scares of neck-related injuries, Hughes found himself facing more adversity than he ever had before — and handled it well. After 2020, Minnesota entered trade talks with other teams surrounding Hughes.

Those interested in striking a deal medically examined Hughes and he was cleared by each team. His confidence returned, and he played in 17 games with five starts for the Super Bowl runner-up Kansas City Chiefs.

In a secondary with standout players such as L’Jarius Sneed and Charvarius Ward, Hughes played over 500 defensive snaps, or 45% of Kansas City’s total.

Shortly after the start of free agency 2022, Hughes signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions. He appeared in 16 games with six starts, but didn’t necessarily feel at home. He totaled 51 tackles and three tackles for loss while being on the field for 53% of the Lions’ snaps on defense.

In the spring of 2023, Hughes again entered free agency. Atlanta quickly became a plausible fit.

Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray was the defensive backs coach in Minnesota when the Vikings drafted Gray. Hughes’ agent, Chris Ellison, knew several members of Atlanta’s front office — including vice president of player personnel and former Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace — from prior negotiations with other clients.

One week after the legal negotiating period opened, the Falcons signed Hughes to a two-year deal. The initial plan centered around him playing in the slot, and after a return-oriented role fizzled out halfway through the season, he ultimately took over as Atlanta’s nickel.

The 5-foot-10, 191-pound Hughes saw extensive defensive action over the final four games, including a trio of starts, and finished the year with 21 tackles, two of which were for a loss.

By the end of 2023, Hughes’ statbook showed 72 games and 22 starts — but none of the maturation that occurred behind the scenes. None of the mental hurdles from his knee and neck injuries. None of the personal impacts of his first son, nicknamed “Little Mike.”

All of the different parts culminate in the present, where Hughes is slated to enter 2024 with another opportunity to deliver on his pre-draft process. Thus far, he has.

“Mike’s a really good player for us,” defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake said. “He’s played really good football in his career. He had a really good spring, and so, he’s earned the right to have more reps and play with those guys.”

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Gray and the Vikings first started the trend of putting Hughes at nickel. It’s not something he particularly fancies, but he’s a talented, team-first player willing to align wherever he’s needed.

Still, Hughes faced a steep adjustment process.

“I came into the league playing corner,” Hughes said. “All through college, I was a straight corner. I maybe had a handful of reps at nickel playing in college, and that’s just from following one of their top guys.”

Hughes wanted the chance to show his versatility — he said he feels it proves he can do multiple things and speaks volumes as to how well he knows the defense he’s playing in.

But there’s another important aspect to consider: comfort, which Hughes finds aplenty playing outside.

“You’re on an island,” Hughes said. “That’s what I came in playing. That’s where I’m more comfortable.”

Falcons assistant general manager Kyle Smith said the team is attracted to corners who can work out of both the nickel and outside spots. Such versatility is an added bonus during the evaluation process, Smith noted, and Hughes isn’t the team’s only corner who can do it — Phillips and starting nickel Dee Alford also have backgrounds at each position.

Comfort ultimately played a factor in the Falcons’ decision to move Hughes outside. Lake and first-year head coach Raheem Morris run a 3-4 defense that’s more zone-heavy. Last season, with Ryan Nielsen serving as defensive coordinator under head coach Arthur Smith, the Falcons mostly played in a 4-3 that was centered around press-man.

Hughes still plays press whenever the Falcons are in man coverage, and he’ll switch up press and off coverage in zone depending on the situation.

But with Atlanta poised to operate more out of zone coverage this fall, Hughes’ shift outside makes sense from a comfort perspective. Smith noted man coverage is the same whether the corner is inside or outside, but in zone, having the sideline as an extra defender helps narrow the range of targets.

The same premise applies to safeties rolling into the box as big nickels or 4-3 outside linebackers shifting inside to a stacked alignment behind the defensive line, Smith said.

“A lot of things are happening that your vision and your sight lines are totally different than being on the outside as a corner,” Smith said. “You’ve got protection from the sideline. You always know that nothing’s happening out here. So, I think that’s the biggest difference and sometimes it takes guys a little longer to pick that up and some guys are really natural doing it.”

Hughes is now the happiest he’s been in years. He’s comfortable outside, working in a starting role and playing for a coaching staff that believes in him. It’s the first time as a professional he hasn’t played much inside, and for a player who enjoys getting a feel at one spot, that’s an overwhelming positive.

Gray said earlier this summer he thinks Hughes looks like the player Minnesota drafted in 2018. Hughes agreed with the assessment.

“The guy they saw at UCF,” Hughes said. “With me playing outside this year, I’ve been getting more comfortable. Just the reps and having a better understanding of what my role is, I think that’s helped me a lot.”

Hughes entered the summer with a mentality built on competing and having fun. He said at the start of training camp he believed the rest would take care of itself if he did, and thus far, he’s checked both boxes.

As Hughes predicted, the rest has unfolded as he’d hoped — and Morris, who dubbed Hughes a pleasant surprise this spring after watching film from last year, is pleased with what he’s seen from the 27-year-old.

“I’ve seen more of the positive sides of things than the negative,” Morris said. “I can tell you what he’s doing now — showing up in ball productivity, being around the ball, being in the right position, doing some of those things, keeping the chute. He’s done a nice job of doing a lot of things here.”

The Falcons opted for Hughes over Phillips due to a variety of reasons. Secondary coach Justin Hood told Falcons on SI during training camp that Hughes has played a lot more football than Phillips — 61 more games, to be exact — and things happen faster and more naturally as a result.

Hughes, Hood says, sees things faster. Perhaps it’s because he’s seen so much more.

Hughes has seen his career flatline. He’s seen dark days, not knowing what his future held. He’s seen community college football. He’s seen more locker rooms in four years than some players see in decade-long pro careers.

But most importantly, Hughes has seen himself come out on the other side of adversity, time and again. And with a critical contract year kicking off against the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. Sunday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Hughes is all smiles — for the highs, lows and everything in between.

“It’s kind of been like a mental journey,” Hughes said. “With having the right people around me — my relationship with God has gotten me through a lot of stuff. I’ve taken everything in stride, taken nothing for granted. I’m still out here able to play ball. So, at the end of day, I’m happy with everything.”