Nine days after the fatal shooting, the Apalachee High School football team makes a surprise visit to the Falcons' practice

Apalachee High School in Georgia continues to grapple with tragedy, but the school's football team received a special surprise Friday that many hope will lift the spirits of the student-athletes.

Nine days after a shooting that left two students and two teachers dead, the Atlanta Falcons welcomed the football players. The high school athletes had the opportunity to see the Falcons up close at the team's practice facility.

The Falcons continued to prepare for Monday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Falcons' training complex is located in Flowery Branch, Georgia, about 20 miles from the Apalachee High School campus.

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“I think it's incredible that you get a chance to see some young kids go through such tough times,” said Jerry Gray, Falcons assistant head coach. “I always look at it and think, 'Man, what are they going through?' They need to go back to the school where that happened.”

Shooting at Apalachee High School: Georgia football team's assistant coach taught “old methods” among the dead

Among the victims of the September 4 shooting was a teacher who was an assistant coach for the Apalachee Islands football team.

Nine other people were injured. Two of the victims were buried on Saturday. A 14-year-old student has been charged with murder, and his father is also facing charges of giving his son a weapon.

During the shooting, some students sought shelter in the high school football stadium.

“When you get a little relief and a chance to give them a little love, I think that's special for our guys,” Gray said. “We're NFL guys, but we still know what caring means.”

Before their season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Falcons coaches and players wore Apalachee T-shirts during pregame warmups, and a moment of silence was observed before kickoff.

Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said the shooting broke his heart and he was praying for the entire community.

“I have brothers and sisters and younger siblings … who want to go to school safely. That this incident and such a tragedy happened, it really broke my heart,” Robinson told WSB-TV.

“I even spoke to one of the children who goes to that school and to see her in such a vulnerable situation, crying and still trying to smile… it was really horrible. I pray for those children every day. The children, the teachers, everyone there.”

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Two-time Pro Bowler Grady Jarrett was born in Georgia and grew up in a suburb of Atlanta.

“It definitely meant a lot to me,” said the Falcons defensive lineman. “I played at Apalachee in high school.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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