Atlanta Falcons Rule Out 10 for Preseason Finale

The Atlanta Falcons have officially ruled out ten players from tomorrow night’s preseason finale with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Atlanta Falcons are playing their finale preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens with extreme precaution, holding out ten players from tomorrow night’s home game. Atlanta has decided to keep out the following players from in-game action: LB Brooks Reed, LB Justin Durant, KR/WR Devin Hester, RB Antone Smith, DB Robinson Therezie, WR Roddy White, LT Jake Matthews, TE Tony Moeaki, CD Desmond Trufant, and LB Joplu Bartu.

Players ruled out vs. BAL: Reed, Durant, Hester, A. Smith, Therezie, White, Matthews, Moeaki, Trufant, Bartu #BALvsATL
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 2, 2015

Most of these names do not come as a surprise. Roddy White is recovering from elbow surgery, Antone Smith still has a lingering hamstring issue suffered during the Tennessee Titans preseason game, and Desmond Trufant won’t play the whole preseason due to a shoulder problem.

However, a few of these injuries are concerning. Brooks Reed has not been healthy very much at all in his brief tenure with the Atlanta Falcons. He has dealt with an ongoing groin issue for most of the offseason. This is troubling since Reed came to Flowery Branch as an expected starting OLB for our Atlanta Falcons. His battery mate LB Justin Durant will also be held out as a precaution. Look for Paul Worrilow and O’Brien Schofield to step up and guys like Allen Bradford and Tyler Starr to play more.

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Jake Matthews apparently has some discomfort in his lower back. This isn’t good since he is going to start at Left Tackle again for the Atlanta Falcons. The offensive line has underperformed expectations this preseason and losing Jake Matthews for even a few weeks could prove disastrous for the still porous offensive line. Could a lingering Matthews injury speed up the process of signing a swing tackle like veteran OT Jake Long?

Tony Moeaki has had a difficult time staying healthy in his NFL career. He rarely played as a member of the Seattle Seahawks last year due to injury. A major reason Atlanta signed Moeaki is with the hopes that he can duplicate his two decent receiving seasons while with the Kansas City Chiefs. Moeaki is now probably behind Levine Toilolo on the tight end depth chart. Toilolo has looked impressive in the preseason and will likely backup starting TE Jacob Tamme.

Some of these holdouts due to injury I’m not overly concerned with like White, Trufant, and Hester. It serves the Atlanta Falcons to let three of their Top 10 best players rest so that they’re healthy for when the Philadelphia Eagles come to town of the 14th for Monday Night Football.

One player that was not ruled out from tomorrow night’s game is RB Devonta Freeman, who has missed the entire preseason due to the ongoing hamstring injury. Will Dan Quinn allow Freeman to compete tomorrow night on the field with a few carries in Kyle Shanahan’s offense? I’d like to believe so since the running game for the Atlanta Falcons has been non-existent through the first three preseason games.

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