Shiloh grad Cameron Sample eager to help Atlanta Falcons' defense

The Shiloh grad said it was a perfect match to be back home.

“My biggest thing is being with a team where I know I can contribute and help win games,” Sample said. “When it lined up that I’m coming back home, it’s two blessings in one. I’m excited for the opportunity.”

The Bengals' 2021 fourth-round draft pick enters Year 6 as an experienced player in Cincinnati's rotation. In his five years, Sample made 85 tackles (eight for losses), 26 quarterback hits and seven sacks.

In 2025, Sample recorded two sacks and a forced fumble in 14 games for the Bengals in his first year back from a torn Achilles that caused him to miss the entire 2024 season.

Sample said the Achilles injury was eye-opening for him.

“That changed my perspective on the game. When you have a whole season taken from you like that, it makes you want to maximize your opportunities,” Sample said. “Now I've got my feet back under me, I’m fully healthy. I want to go out there, put my best foot forward and maximize my God-given opportunity."

The Bengals allowed Sample to walk in free agency after 2025 and he wound up signing a one-year contract with the 49ers in April. Complications in San Francisco with a minor injury lead to the team waiving him on Aug. 5. Five days later, he was signed to the team that practices 45 minutes from where he grew up.

Sample said he remembers coming to watch Falcons practice as a kid with his family. Getting to sit in the stands and see former NFL stars at work to now being the one out on the grass is what he called a “full circle moment” for him and those he grew up with.

On Friday, when the Falcons opened the preseason against the Broncos, Sample got his first chance to suit up in Mercedes-Benz Stadium as a member of the team. He has played in the stadium before as a visitor, but he said it was a different experience being the one cheered for, not against.

“I’ve been on the other side of it, but coming in, feeling the energy from the fans, it was surreal in there,” Sample said. “I was happy and I can’t wait to get back.”

He’s slowly working his way back into playing shape, and into the starter conversation.

Despite new opportunities with injuries to other players, Sample said his mindset is not changing. He always prepares as if he will be the starter and wants the team to be able to count on him whether he’s asked to play 15 snaps or 65.

“I’ve been getting overtime with the coaches and learning the playbook,” Sample said. “I just got here like three or four days ago so the biggest challenge is getting back into game shape and learning. But I’m just attacking it head on.”

Sample credits his parents for “instilling that hard-working" mentality in him from a young age. He said both of his parents are hard workers which rubbed off on him all the way through his recruiting process in high school to the present.

Now he wants to bring that mentality to the Falcons defense run by coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. The mindset of being hard-working is shared by the two as they work on what Sample called a “nasty” defense in 2026.

“I was just always head down work mentality,” Sample said. “I’m not where I want to be, but that’s gotten me this far so there is no reason to switch that up. I take pride in it.”

That mentality combined with a talented roster in 2021 saw Sample and the Bengals reach the Super Bowl as a rookie. Now he’s eager to get back to the playoffs and find the success of his early career again.

Former Bengals teammate Jessie Bates III is a familiar face in this new opportunity. The two played together and became friends in Cincinnati before Bates left for Atlanta in 2023.

Sample said Bates has been helping him get settled and told him to maximize his opportunity with the Falcons.

“When I got drafted, Jessie was probably the first Bengal to reach out and he was a big brother for me coming into Cincinnati,” Sample said. “I saw him in the hallway (on Day 1 with Atlanta) and he didn’t recognize me at first cause I grew my beard out. He did a double take like, ‘Cam?’ And we chopped it up for a bit.”