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Justin Durant Ruled Out Sunday vs. Washington

By John Buhler

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Justin Durant will not play on Sunday for the Atlanta Falcons in their Week 5 matchup with the Washington Redskins. Can the LB corps adjust without him in it?

According to ESPN’s Vaughn McClure, the Atlanta Falcons will not have OLB Justin Durant available on Sunday versus the Washington Redskins. He hurt his elbow last week against the Houston Texans and has not practiced all week for the Falcons. However, it seems that rookie RB Tevin Coleman will play on Sunday after missing the last two weeks with a rib injury.

Through all of training camp and the first part of the season, Justin Durant has been a great pickup for the Atlanta Falcons at outside linebacker. He was pushing for a starting role with his previous team, the Dallas Cowboys, before injuries derailed his 2014 NFL Season.

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Durant has had the talent to start at linebacker for some time now, but it has been injury concerns that have prevented him from staying competitive in the long-term. Justin’s likely replacement on the outside will be former starting OLB for the Atlanta Falcons, Joplo Bartu.

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Bartu earned a starting role in former DC Mike Nolan’s defense out of necessity in 2013 and kept it through 2014. Though the former undrafted free agent out of Texas State performed admirably as a starter, the Atlanta Falcons’ LB corps in 2013-14 was one of the weakest in all of football.

One of the major areas of emphasis this offseason for the Falcons was to build a respectable LB corps. HC Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff brought in free agents like Justin Durant, Brooks Reed and O’Brien Schofield to add some fire to what was a lukewarm linebacker group. By doing this, it allowed former starters like Bartu and Kroy Biermann to move back into important reserve roles for the team.

Now that the Atlanta Falcons have depth at LB, we can feel confident that Bartu will play well as the presumed starter over Justin Durant on the outside. Bartu picked up where Durant left off in Week 4 against the Houston Texans. Houston’s not a solid football team, but Bartu didn’t skip a beat taking over for Justin Durant on Sunday.

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Seeing reserves like Bartu, Biermann, Schofield, Nate Stupar, and Allen Bradford perform at a high level is a testament to how well Dan Quinn’s 4-3 Under scheme is working in Atlanta. It also accents how well of a job DC Richard Smith and LB Coach Jeff Ulbrich are doing in transforming the Atlanta Falcons’ linebackers. Smith and Ulbrich aren’t getting the credit they deserve with coaching this vastly improved LB corps.

The linebackers will need to play well on Sunday, as the Redskins have a dynamic duo at tailback in Alfred Morris and Matt Jones. Though Justin Durant won’t play on Sunday, Atlanta will have its other starting OLB Brooks Reed back for another game after undergoing groin surgery in the preseason. Coach Quinn lists Reed as probable for Sunday’s 1 PM ET kickoff. Expect Quinn, Smith, and Ulbrich to use all of their LBs to offset Durant’s elbow injury in Week 5. Rise Up!

Next: Atlanta Falcons: Top 5 Offensive Line in Football?

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