Falcons Wednesday Injury Report: Six Are Not Practicing

by Dave Choate on Oct 19, 2011 5:08 PM EDT in Falcons News

If this was a Friday, we'd be going into full-fledged panic mode. Since it's a Wednesday, we're merely wary.

In total, six Falcons are banged up and did not practice on Wednesday. There's some front-line players on this list, guys who will be extremely helpful against the Lions this Sunday. All we can do is hope they're well enough to play when the game rolls around.

Here's the list, with brief notes:

Sam Baker: Not everyone loves Baker—I call him Huggy Bear at times, thanks to his holding—but Will Svitek is not an improvement. Here's hoping his back is healed up soon.
Julio Jones: Still not practicing, Waffle House? That's unfortunate. The Falcons' passing game is more dynamic when the big guy is healthy, and I'm hoping he'll be set to go against Detroit.
Garrett Reynolds: He's banged up, too. The Falcons could roll with Mike Johnson and Brett Romberg and probably do alright, but this is a dangerous game thanks to Ndamokung Suh. Keep an eye on Reynolds' status.
Todd McClure: McClure's been a walking MASH unit this season, suffering from a million different ailments. I'm a little skittish about Joe Hawley starting up the middle against the Lions, but he has been pretty solid this season.
John Abraham: You'll see his name a lot on the injury report in 2011. Abe's long been nagged by injuries and is getting older, so the Falcons may choose to have him not practice early in the week to save him for games. At this time, I imagine he'll play.
Chris Owens: With concussion protocol, he won't return until he's ready. It'd be nice to have him on the field, but Kelvin Hayden can approximate his physicality against Titus Young.

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Smitty did state that he would begin a maintenance program for the older guys this week. He didn’t say who, but Abe and McClure would qualify as “older”. As for Julio, while I’d love to see him out there, the last thing we need is for him to reaggrivate the hammy and then be out for 6 more weeks. There’s a bye after the DET game, so let’s see if we can grind it out w/o #11. Besides, SF beat DT and they don’t even have anyone as good as Roddy.

by atlien698 on Oct 19, 2011 5:12 PM EDT reply actions

I meant DET, not DT

by atlien698 on Oct 19, 2011 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

The problem with McClure is that it's impossible to know if it's maintenance or not

Because he’s been hurt so often this year. Poor guy.

by Dave Choate on Oct 19, 2011 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not overly concerned by the report

As atlien said, I expected some of the older guys to be held out of more practices the longer the season goes. McClure and Abe both could use the rest. Abe is more likely to play than McClure, but a day off wouldn’t hurt either. Julio and Owens should be held out this week. With a bye coming up, it would be better to take the safe approach and let them heal. I think we can still be successful without them risking further injury. The Sam Baker and Garrett Reynolds injuries scare me the most. I agree with your point, Dave, that Huggy Bear is still a better LT than Svitek. We need him in the game, at least until we find someone better, and I don’t think we have anyone currently on the roster better. Reynolds is important as Mike Johnson hasn’t played this year, and with McClure’s injury, Romberg could be needed at center if something were to happen to Hawley. The O-line appears to be working better together, probably because we are starting to gain some continuity. The last thing we need is to break the continuity against a team that has Nick Fairley and Ndamakung Suh lining up across from us.

"He has lived up to the legendary billing... And the legend is born in Calvin Johnson!" -Wes Durham

by sportsfan4life2012 on Oct 19, 2011 5:20 PM EDT reply actions

Dominique Foxworth

Whatever happened to that guy? He was competing for a job now he sees no time…

by Bigru3 on Oct 19, 2011 6:12 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Plays for the Ravens

missed all of last year with a torn ACL, and was put on IR after Week 2 because his knee was still giving him problems.

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by Caleb Rutherford on Oct 19, 2011 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I thought they released him?

by dirtybirds233 on Oct 19, 2011 9:30 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

His Wiki says he's on IR.

ESPN also says the same thing. He was placed on IR at the end of September.

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by Caleb Rutherford on Oct 19, 2011 10:02 PM EDT up reply actions

No real surprises

Julio and Owens will more than likely (98% or so imo) not play on Sunday. The rest are probably just maintenance like Smith usually does for older and banged up guys.

by Whyte Bler 000 on Oct 19, 2011 6:18 PM EDT reply actions

came out wrong

I meant the 98% for the others.

by Whyte Bler 000 on Oct 19, 2011 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Abe is always on the injured list

not so worried about him. It’s also less of a concern with RE on the team.

I hope Owens gets back soon but I am good with Hayden. I don’t want Hayden on Young though. I still would like to see Hayden on ’Tron, due to Haydens size, move DR to the #2 DB slot and let BG play nickel for this game.

by mwalex on Oct 19, 2011 6:40 PM EDT reply actions

In other fun news, the Brown for Harrison trade has been voided

Due to problems w/Harrisons physical.

by aces666high on Oct 19, 2011 7:32 PM EDT reply actions

We can pretty mich

Just focus on Megatron and Pettigrew at this point. I like our chances on Sunday.
1. Indoor stadium.
2. The Lions are being forced to be one dimensional (both running backs are out).
3. We finally put a complete game together last week while Detroit finally showed their weaknesses. I think we take this one.

by dirtybirds233 on Oct 19, 2011 9:32 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I like our matchups with the lions.

Other than their Dline, I think we have the advantage everywhere else. I would like to see TG and Ovie used to double and help out in that area. We can definitely exploit their linebackers once we get through that 1st 3 yards running.

by SmokeyBell on Oct 20, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions