Stay Healthy, Falcons

No one's going to lose sleep over the Saints losing a player for the season in June. Victor Butler might have been their best natural pass rusher, so it makes life for the Falcons a little easier to see him g one. Some of us feel bad for the guy and the Saints, others will revel in it.

What we ought to be concerned about is the same thing happening to the Falcons. The summer or early season injury bug has bitten Harry Douglas, Peria Jerry, Kerry Meier and others in recent years, sapping them of entire seasons and in Jerry's case in particular, wrecking their careers. It can happen just like it did to Butler: Two dudes running into one another in a non-contact drill, resulting in a devastating injury.

This isn't inviting trouble or trying to scare it away. It's part of life in the NFL, where even the lightest practices can result in injuries.

It's not a great idea to snicker, in other words, because the Falcons have had an unfortunate string of these kinds of injuries in recent years, major and minor. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Stay healthy out there, Falcons.