ATLANTA -- The game between the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins nearly turned ugly in the first half when LaRon Landry delivered a late hit on Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan after he scrambled out of bounds. As flags flew, former Falcons player DeAngelo Hall jumped into the middle of things, surrounded by a horde of Atlanta players and angry Falcons coach Mike Smith.

Hall had spent most of the week complaining about how he was treated by his former team. He played four years in Atlanta, making two Pro Bowls, but was traded to Oakland after the 2007 season. He didn't even make it through one season with the Raiders, landed in Washington and was eager to get back at the Falcons in his return to the Georgia Dome.

All those emotions seemed to boil over when Hall found himself on the Atlanta sideline.

"Guys just started coming at me," Hall said. "It wasn't any mindset to break the fight up. It was in a mindset to try to get some licks in. Even the head coach came over there. Mike Smith said some stuff, said some words to me, cussed me out. He was grabbing at me, pulling at me."

Smith refused to trade barbs with Hall, saying he was merely trying to break up the scuffle and didn't even know the former Falcons player was involved.

"All I was trying to do was restore some order on the sideline," the fiery coach said. "There were a bunch of guys on that sideline. Some of them were wearing black helmets (Falcons) and some of them were wearing maroon helmets. I can't tell you anything more about it."

Although it appeared no punches were thrown in the melee, Hall said he planned to file a complaint with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The Falcons just shrugged the whole thing off as a ploy by Hall to fire up himself and his team.

"That's DeAngelo," defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux said. "That's what gets him going. You can't fall into what he's doing or he'll have you where he wants you."