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Corey Peters suffered a devastating injury at the end of the 2013 season, an Achilles tear that made you question whether he could possibly be ready for 2014. After enjoying a productive season featuring five sacks, Peters appeared ready to get a nice deal from the Falcons or another team as his rookie deal expired, but instead he settled for a one-year pact.
Nine months later, Peters has been a full participant in practice on back-to-back days leading up to Week 1. We talked to Corey's agent, Greg Linton, back in January and asked him about his client's recovery timetable, and he responded thusly:
Recovery time on low end will be around 6 months. At most we are looking at 8 months. So the time frame until he is 100% healthy is between 6 and 8 months. Which will have him ready to go by training camp at the earliest, preseason at the latest, but ready for the season.
Time has borne this out, almost exactly. Peters resumed practicing in late July and now appears ready to go against the Saints, which will given the Falcons a fairly deep and formidable rotation of tackles and ends for use against New Orleans. As usual, Mike Smith won't confirm that, but if Peters is practicing fully he appears likely to play snaps. Per Jay Adams:
Corey Peters (Achilles) and Dezmen Southward (concussion) were again full participants in practice Thursday. #NOvsATL
— Jay Adams (@FalconsJAdams) September 4, 2014
This is excellent news. The only question mark is around practice squad player and Falcoholic reader favorite Travian Robertson, who was excused from practice today, per D. Orlando Ledbetter:
All Falcons, except for excused Travian Robertson, were full practice participants.
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) September 4, 2014
One more day of practice to go, but it appears this team will be as healthy as it possibly can be at precisely the right time. Let's hope that's the case.