Atlanta Falcons Injuries Are Piling Up
Aug 29, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel (22) walks on the sidelines before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
The Falcons were a bit banged up before the first game of the season in New Orleans, and they don’t look too much healthier halfway through week two. In a recent post on the AJC, D. Orlando Ledbetter went through all of the players who missed practice on Wednesday and the players who were limited during practice. Per Ledbetter:
"FLOWERY BRANCH – The Falcons had a lengthy injury report on Wednesday.Wide receiver Roddy White (ankle), left tackle Sam Baker (knee), wide receiver Julio Jones (knee) and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux (knee) did not practice on Wednesday.Free safety Thomas DeCoud (knee), defensive tackle Peria Jerry (knee), defensive tackle Cliff Matthews (neck), cornerback Asante Samuel (thigh) and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (knee) were limited.With Baker out, Lamar Holmes moved over to left tackle and Jeremy Trueblood took over at right tackleSamuel announced that he would be ready to play this week against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday."
It’s nice to know that Asante Samuel should be ready against the Rams this weekend but the other players on this list might outweigh the pros of the few who could be coming back (especially with the way the young defensive backs played against the Saints).
Two defensive tackles were limited in practice and Jonathan Babineaux (the defensive tackle) missed practice completely. That eliminates a ton of depth on the defensive line and puts a lot more pressure on a pretty iffy linebacker corps.
To top it off, left tackle Sam Baker missed practice entirely with a left knee injury. The offensive line is a pretty big issue for the Falcons already and that problem is just going to get worse with a starter being injured–obviously.
The Falcons have a lot of questions (don’t buy into that “ranked 4th thing” just yet) and those will only get harder and harder to answer as the injuries continue to pile up.