AJC Minicamp Report: Peria Jerry Recovering Slowly

by Dave Choate on May 9, 2010 10:00 AM EDT in Falcons News

Before we get into the meat of this post, go read anything and everything from Jason Kirk and Adam Schultz regarding camp. They were there being awesome, as usual, and their musings deserve the full attention of your eyeballs. Once you finish there, return here. Commands are fun!

I'm sure Jason and Adam can either affirm or denounce this report from D. Orlando Ledbetter, but it raises some significant concerns for me about the health of Peria Jerry. If you'll recall, Jerry was hailed by Tom of Dimitroff fame as a key to the pass rush, something Mike Smith agreed with from underneath his safari hat. I had just begun to become comfortable with the idea that the Falcons drafted Corey Peters as a future replacement for Jon Babineaux and a valuable reserve in the here and now. I really don't need to be re-introduced to the idea that he was drafted because Jerry is months behind in his rehabilitation.

Let's put it this way. Whatever injury Jerry actually suffered—the team is worse than Johnny Tightlips—was significant enough that he's still limping, roughly eight months after he was placed on injured reserve. Even if he's out on the field gamely gimping around, that doesn't bode well for his ability to be up to full speed by the time the season kicks off. Y'all may want to get used to seeing Corey Peters and his shiny new jersey on the field.

Your thoughts?

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i saw this coming

the moment we drafted him the word bust popped up in my head. He had already had knee surgery his senior year and had major injuries 3 times before that at ole miss. who knows, maybe peters will be one of those suprise talents….atleast thats what i and im sure all the fans are hoping for.

HOW MUCH MONEY DID THE SAINTS GIVE THE REFS?!?!?!?!

by dirtybirds233 on May 9, 2010 11:02 AM EDT reply actions

Not the end of the world

There is no doubt that PJ is a talented NFL player and a welcomed addition to any team, but losing one player does not a season kill. We have several promising young players in our DT rotation along with numerous older Free Agents (like former Jag John Henderson) who are still looking for a team. This is a hole we can patch fairly easily at this point in the year.

Injuries (from the mild to the horrific) are a fact of life in the NFL and every team has to deal with them year in and year out. Hopefully PJ will be able to heal quickly enough to contribute later this year. Still, I think calling a player a bust because of injuries really isn’t fair. The young man can certainly play (unlike a recently released Raiders QB), he just hit a bit of bad luck last year.

by Leon07 on May 9, 2010 11:06 AM EDT reply actions

Jerry is not a bust yet

Here’s hoping he can recover in time to make the starting lineup at least by the time we have bye week. He’s unfortunate, not a bust – and if he has a history of serious injuries than our talent evaluators must have had something in their minds when picking him in the 1st round.

There is a silver lining to any problem, and in this case Corey Peters definitely gets many snaps in his rookie year. Had it not been due to a Bledsoe injury, we wouldn’t have known who Tom Brady was. So I don’t have a lot of concerns about the quality of our D-line – problem is the depth. And if they feel that Jerry won’t be available by the beginning of the season, they should go get a reliable (not necessarily top flight) DT in the market. And conversely, with all the smoke and mirror approach of our team, we can judge about Jerry’s progress by the team’s activity in the FA market.

Atlanta Falcons fan in Moscow, Russia

by Gemini-RU on May 10, 2010 6:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Tony Dungy had a saying with the Colts

Next man up…

by TheAreopagite on May 9, 2010 11:44 AM EDT reply actions

And by next man of course I mean Albert Haynesworth

For whom we will trade all 2011 and 2012 draft picks.

by TheAreopagite on May 9, 2010 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Don't even say it!

It’s like saying Candyman five times in a mirror.

by Dave Choate on May 9, 2010 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Oh Yea...

Nobody ever gives Candyman his respect. Dang.

Oh, and I agree. I could continue to live my life just fine without Albert Haynesworth ever setting foot in Atlanta.

That is all.

by XBEARDX on May 10, 2010 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Jerry will be missed

if he can’t play this season but one player does not a team make. Like Leon07 said ATL has a good number of guys at DT that can step in and play the position. If Jerry’s career is done, or ending quicker than anticipated, then adjustments will be made.

by mwalex on May 9, 2010 1:34 PM EDT reply actions

I was really looking forward to seeing Jerry start this year

Here’s hoping Peters is awesome.

by ArthurDank on May 9, 2010 1:51 PM EDT reply actions

I almost hate to say this but I'm glad that this problem is emerging this early

in the season. We have plenty of time to address this issue through undrafted/unrestricted Free Agents and trades.

I wish the young man nothing but the best and a speedy recovery. Other players have come back from serious injuries before, so there certainly no reason to give up on Jerry especially with today’s modern athletic medicine.

by Leon07 on May 9, 2010 2:11 PM EDT reply actions

thats not all

If babs is suspended it’ll probably be peters and johnson or peters and walker as the starters. No pass rush! Damn!

by DEMBIRDZCUZ! on May 9, 2010 5:44 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Not necessary

All it reduces is pressure from the DT positions. If we have plenty of time to add a veteran or two to pair with Peters, Johnson, Walker, and JA98 (much as we did with our secondary last season). An effective pass rush can still be produced via Abe, El Sid, Duffman, and LB blitzs.

While the news of PJ’s slow recover is a bit of a shock to use fans, I’m sure the Falcon brain trust has known for months and have been making contingency plans.

Again every team gets its share of injures. Just be glad that this development happened so early in the season so we have the opportunity to address it in a multitude of ways.

by Leon07 on May 9, 2010 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Solutions man

Go after former UGA player Richard Seymore from Oakland. He clearly doesn’t want to be out there, and won’t sign a longterm contract, so trade something to big Al and get Seymore back on the East coast, closer to his family in NE.

by blackertai on May 10, 2010 2:27 AM EDT reply actions

If PJ Cant Go...

We still have plenty of guys that can pick up the slack or whatnot for him if that is the case…we really have depth & talent developing along the D-Line and we will be a success with or without PJ (I just hope he gets well)

Go FALCONS!

Watchin' Bobby Cox Turn Falcon Red Since 1991...
(A True ATLien)

by Dirtybyrdatl4life on May 10, 2010 10:08 AM EDT reply actions

PJ

When you draft a guy with a long history of problems, especially with your number 1, and he has injury problems, then clearly shame on you.

I love the positive outlook on this board, but the last two drafts (2009 and 2010) are very suspect. Maybe we get one starter, should be Spoon. That is a solid pick. Would you trade JP for Clay Matthews? Think a starting LB corp of Spoon, Loften and Matthews, that is the stuff of Super Bowl caliber teams. Could have happened.

The picks you don’t make haunt you as much as the ones you do, look at the Hawks with the selection of the Williams and passing on all pro point guards. Same deal here.

by Whopper Dawg on May 13, 2010 3:43 AM EDT reply actions

I think it's just too early to judge Jerry

But at the same time, I’m not going to tell you YOU shouldn’t do so. From my perspective, one lost year and a slow recovery through the next training camp do not a disappointing career make.

by Dave Choate on May 13, 2010 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Too early to judge

It does not a career make, but after a history of injury problems in college, when this happens you shouldn’t be surprised. I think too much risk for a No. 1.

Would you trade Jerry for Clay Matthews? I would in a heart beat.

by Whopper Dawg on May 13, 2010 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

They play two different positions

and if Matthews played for the Falcons there is no guarantee he would fit well into the system. Also, we needed more help on the DL than at LB, so Matthews wouldn’t have helped anyway. Do you suppose that Jerry is being worked back slowly to make sure he’s fully healed and too help ensure that he breaks the injury cycle?

It’s so easy so second guess picks like Jerry in hind sight.

by mwalex on May 13, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions

What????

Not hind sight, I was pulling for Matthews all the way.

Play two positions, well, yeah.

I think Matthews would fit in our system just fine, look at the other LBs that TD has drafted (I guess he thought they would fit into our system) and compare them with Matthews.

Matthews wouldn’t have helped anyway – That certainly explains Spoon pick this year, guess we didn;t have a need at LB after all.

Jerry may prove to be a consistent starter and maybe a star, but injury history in college and now pro does not suggest that. Too much risk for your #1 pick IMO.

by Whopper Dawg on May 15, 2010 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Very hard to compare Matthews to our LB's

They are asked to do very different things. Matthews was almost exclusively a pass rusher in GB’s 3-4… he rushed the QB 424 times vs only 181 snaps of dropping into pass coverage. Our guys rarely rushed the QB:

Peterson 109 Rush / 485 Coverage
Lofton 92 Rush / 481 Coverage
Nicholas 47 Rush / 287 Coverage

And if you want to compare Matthews (#26 overall) with OLB’s “that TD has drafted”, he would be compared to Spencer Adkins (a 6th Rounder in ’09) and Robert James (a 5th Rounder in ’08) – not exactly a fair fight to begin with.

"Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital." - Aaron Levenstein

by orang3b on May 17, 2010 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Matthews

Oh no, can’t have a LB that can pass rush, heaven forbid!!! What a disaster that would be!! I guess we will keep letting our DLine set those impressive sacks numbers every year. Plus 200 snaps dropping into coverage is a pretty high number.

You think you could trade Jerry, Peterson, or Nicholas for Matthews? That would be a no, a no and a no.

My point on the comparison to the other LBs TD drafted is skill set, because apparently, you think they are much more suited to the Falcons style of defense than Matthews. We will see how they do. And as I am sure that you will attest, it really doesn’t matter what round TD drafts a players in, as he sees things other GMs don’t, which explains all the reaches in this drafts.

You can keep the oft injured Jerry in college and now in pro, and I’ll take the starting LB that can pass rush as well as cover.

Dollars to doughnuts, Jerry doesn’t make it through the season, if he in fact does play.

by Whopper Dawg on May 23, 2010 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Not yesterdays news just yet...

Realistically, we haven’t seen JP at work… I wouldn’t jump to packing his bags just yet the guy is young and while he has a history of injury, I trust “Tom Dimi” (side note does anybody else see mafia when Tommy D and Art “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?” Blank are standing together? Like, a “be very careful what you say” vibe creeps over me (I LIKE IT). But to the matter at hand, Jerry is still a young talent not exactly on a JA98 bust path yet… its one season… he gets healthy and who knows the rebirth of Anthony McFarland (thats huge for this team) I say we jump off his back HAS Tommy D let us down yet???? wait, don’t answer that.

Be good and be good to yourself -MASE-

by Ma$e on May 14, 2010 6:29 AM EDT reply actions