The Atlanta Falcons injury report for today has only five names on it. Unfortunately for the Falcons, most of them are pretty important names.
The preliminary injury report has Jonathan Babineaux already declared out, which makes sense given that they previously announced that the stud defensive tackle would miss three-to-five weeks. He's the lone player who is absolutely guaranteed to miss the game.
In addition, the Falcons could be without Ovie Mughelli (knee), Chris Owens (ankle), Todd McClure (also knee), and Harry Douglas (concussion, which he quietly suffered in the Bears game). If Mughelli doesn't play, Jason Snelling will assume fullback duties. If Chris Owens doesn't play, Dominique Franks or Kelvin Hayden are candidates to take his place at the nickel. If McClure doesn't play, Joe Hawley will draw a second straight start. And if Harry Douglas doesn't play, the Falcons are down a dangerous passing game weapon and will likely turn to a combination of Kerry Meier and Eric Weems to fill in.
None of those would be ideal, so let's hope all these guys can play. Though it would not surprise me to see some of you disagree with Owens missing a game as a bad thing.
The good news? Corey Peters practiced Wednesday and is working his way back for the game. Without Babs, the team will definitely need his talents in the middle. He and Peria Jerry are virtual locks to draw the starters, assuming CP doesn't have any setbacks.
Thoughts on the injury report?