FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith went to his rookie quarterback a couple of weeks ago, after Feleipe Franks had gone through the preseason, after he had made the 53-man roster, with an idea. An experiment of sorts, a way to take the third quarterback on the roster and make him more.

Would the player be open to positions other than quarterback? He’d still get reps there, still develop there, but this was a way on the field earlier than any other path he might have. Would he be open to it?

Franks didn’t hesitate.

“It definitely wasn’t a let me think if I’m going to do this or not,” Franks said. “It was more of, like, let me figure out ways.”

Smith’s idea was to use him as a quarterback and as a tight end -- think a rudimentary version of New Orleans Saints do-everything player Taysom Hill -- and see what happens. Even though Franks downplayed the possibility this week, that could be his NFL future if this pans out, a player who can present matchup problems and confounding questions for opposing defenses.

In Smith’s offense, which is all about having players who can do multiple things in order to create havoc for opposing defenses, it’s an interesting, slow-building proposition. Smith said while the Saints started this potential trend with Hill, it sent other teams searching for their own possibilities.

“Taysom is the only guy that I’ve seen that really can play both spots. He can run routes well, obviously he can move the football running, zone read, play action. There’s not a lot that he doesn’t do,” Smith said. “We’ll see. We’ll continue to kind of kick the tires on it and see if it gives us anything. But it’s a credit to Feleipe.

“Feleipe has worked really hard to try and become a professional quarterback and has done a lot of work behind the scenes, so he got out of his comfort zone a little bit and we’ll see where it goes.”

At first, it caught other Falcons by surprise too. Receiver Calvin Ridley, who laughed when he was asked about it, became intrigued about what Smith and Franks were trying to do. Cordarrelle Patterson -- himself a player used multiple places -- understood. Do whatever you can to get on the field.

“When I see him in [practice],” Ridley said. “I’m like, ‘What is he going to do? What is coach going to call?'"

For two weeks they worked on acclimating Franks into his newfound role. Franks acclimated quickly. He said this possibility was never brought up to him by the Falcons or other teams during the draft process, but when Atlanta suggested it, he reached out to his brother, NFL veteran tight end Jordan Franks. Asked for tips of how to play tight end.

Feleipe said his brother told him to always keep his feet moving and to have speed off the ball.

Franks was in for three plays in his debut. His first, he was lined up offset of the line next to tight end Kyle Pitts on a Patterson play that went to the opposite side of the line. Franks’ job on that play, which he did well, was to block New York Giants safety Logan Ryan.

His second snap came at quarterback on a third-and-1 when he handed off to Patterson on a zone read that had Matt Ryan lined up out wide. The play gained no yards.

His third snap was in the fourth quarter, when Franks was lined up inside of Pitts and offset in a bunch formation on the left, close to the line. He ran a route toward the end zone, but the play fell apart when left guard Jalen Mayfield got beat, leading to a Ryan sack.

But it was three plays and three distinct roles for the 23-year-old undrafted free agent.

“Certainly it’s worth trying,” Smith said. “He played a couple snaps in different spots, and we’ll see if it grows, and we have to evaluate that, but yeah, he’s a hell of an athlete.”

That was evident in Franks from his first preseason game, when he had a 52-yard scramble that was a highlight in an otherwise dreary night. Franks would show it off in practices, too, where the athleticism he had became obvious during practices even as he was learning the offense.

Franks said when this idea was brought to him, he also saw it as a way to potentially improve being a quarterback too. Now, he’ll understand first-hand more positions on the field, the intricacies of route-running and blocking and why receivers sometimes are in certain places.

It has offered more perspective, and if it gets him on the field, all the better for him.

“It’s good, always, to be versatile,” Franks said. “It’s just a learning process, learning different variations of different positions and stuff. So, it’s cool.

“I feel like the game is always evolving.”

And Franks might be, for Atlanta, its latest evolution.