FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons second-year cornerback Desmond Trufant has put together a pretty strong season, earning the confidence of his coaches.

Against the Carolina Panthers last week, the Falcons allowed Trufant to follow Panthers rookie receiver Kelvin Benjamin when they were in man-to-man coverage. Earlier against the Baltimore Ravens, the Falcons had him match up with veteran wide receiver Steve Smith.

Falcons coach Mike Smith has long been a staunch proponent of playing sides and not matching wide receivers.

Trufant was up to the task against Benjamin and Smith, despite giving up a 22-yard touchdown grab to Benjamin.

“I think Desmond plays with a lot of confidence,” Smith said. “Some people call it swagger; I like to say he’s a very confident player. He’s confident in his abilities.”

Smith was happy to see Trufant get his first interception after dropping six potential interceptions this season.

“He’s up for that challenge,” Smith said. “He’s had a great play on the interception that gave us a drive start inside the 20-yard line. He’s had some opportunities to make some big plays for us and he’s done that. I like a guy that plays with a lot of confidence. Confidence is a big part of playing in the NFL.”

The NFL reinstated Cleveland Browns star wide receiver Josh Gordon from his 10-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. Smith expects the Browns to waste no time in getting Gordon up to speed to face the Falcons.

“They’ve stated that they want to get him out on the field as quickly as possible,” Smith said. “He’s a game-changer. He’s a guy who with the guy in his hands, he can make plays. We are anticipating we will get a full dose of him.”

In 2013 Gordon played just 14 games but still led the league with 1,646 total yards and 117.6 per game. Gordon also had nine touchdown receptions with six scores for 37 yards or longer.

Trufant is expected to draw the assignment of covering Gordon.

“It comes down to the other players that are playing that position,” Smith said. “It can depend on what coverages we feel like will be giving us the best opportunity to stop them, not only that player, but the entire offense.”

The Falcons, who are in first place in the NFC South, would like to post their first victory over a team with a winning record this season. In order to achieve that goal, the must slow down the dangerous Gordon.

“Our goal was to go to Carolina and get the win; we were able to get that accomplished,” Smith said. “It was hard fought, there’s a lot of football to be played, but we are aware of where we are. Our goal is to continue to improve. We’ve got some young guys that started getting significant playing time at different positions across the board. I think that they’re improving. I think everybody’s aware of what we need to do this week.”

The Falcons will not have played at home in 42 days by Sunday. They have played four games on the road, including a “home” game in London. They were 2-2 over that span and could have easily been 3-1 if they hadn’t blown a 21-point lead against Detroit in London.

“I’ve got to make sure I know how to get there,” Smith quipped. “If I had my druthers we definitely would not be 42 days away our home field, but we look forward to being in front of our home fans. We will feed off of their energy like we always do, and I think it’ll be an exciting game.”

SERIES HISTORY: The Browns lead 10-3. The Falcons won the last meeting 20-10 back in 2010 on their way to a 13-3 record. Falcons defensive end Kroy Biermann iced the game when he intercepted a Jake Delhomme pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown with 4:01 left in the game.

MEDICAL WATCH: WR Julio Jones missed practice with an illness on Wednesday, but is expected to play. … WR Drew Davis is closer to full strength in his return from July foot surgery. Davis was a full participant in practice Wednesday after he participated on a limited basis last week. … SS William Moore (shoulder) returned to practice. He’s expected to play against Arizona next week. … OT Jonathan Scott (hamstring) has not been active for the past two games and did not practice on Wednesday. … CB Robert Alford (fractured wrist) did not practice and is expected to miss two to four weeks. … RG Jon Asamoah (shoulder) was limited in practice on Wednesday.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

–Browns QB Brian Hoyer, who’s completing 55.7 percent of his passes, vs. Falcons FS Dwight Lowery, who’s have a strong season in various roles: Hoyer had taken control of the quarterback position in Cleveland after they drafted Johnny Manziel in the first round. He gets the Browns’ top receiver back this week in Josh Gordon as the team will try to ramp up its offensive performance down the strength. Lowery will play a role in making sure that Hoyer is not able to throw the deep ball. He’ll also spend some time near the line of scrimmage in running situations.

–Browns LB Craig Robertson, who’ll take over signal-calling duties from the injured Karlos Dansby, vs. Falcons RB Steven Jackson, who has had 15 or more carries in each of the past three games: Robertson will be charged with leading an opportunistic unit that is fifth in the league with a plus-8 turnover differential. The Browns have 14 interceptions and have recovered four fumbles. Jackson had 18, 16 and 17 carries in the past three games as the Falcons have become more determined to establish a rushing attack behind their revamped offensive line. But Jackson is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry.

–Browns CB Joe Haden, who has an interception and two fumble recoveries, vs. Falcons WR Julio Jones, who’s 88 yards away from his second 1,000-yard receiving seasons: Haden, the seventh player selected in the 2010 draft, went to his first Pro Bowl last season. He has continued his strong play this season. Jones said he plans to get more physical near the line of scrimmage if the Falcons continue to run him on bubble screens. Last week, the Panthers did a good job of sniffing out the Falcons’ bread-and-butter play.