Atlanta Falcons CB Robert Alford placed on injured reserve

The Atlanta Falcons suffered a season-ending loss in the secondary on Monday afternoon, as head coach Mike Smith revealed that starting cornerback Robert Alford will be placed on injured reserve as a result of a broken wrist.

This isn’t a complete shock, given that Alford has been sidelined since suffering the wrist injury in Week 11, but it is certainly unfortunate on a number of levels. First, the Falcons have been operating with Alford on the active roster since that time, something that apparently could have been avoided, and of course, there is the fact that Alford is one of the more talented players in a secondary that needs all the help that it can get after star corner Desmond Trufant.

Robert Alford has been much-maligned by some, including in this space, but the second round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft still possesses a great deal of upside. Alford amassed 31 tackles, 11 passes defended and three interceptions in his ten starts this season, and even if there were some high-profile mishaps, it is certainly not a good thing that he will be unavailable for the remainder of the 2014 season.

In this stead, the Falcons are expected to deploy some combination of Robert McClain, Javier Arenas and Josh Wilson.