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The Atlanta Falcons will go into this Sunday's game against the Texans reasonably healthy, but they'll be missing a couple of starters that would have been useful against Houston.
Injuries: Ricardo, Devin, Jacob Tamme, Tevin out Sunday.
— Jeanna (@jeannathomas) October 2, 2015
All others (Julio, Devonta, Reed) are a go
— Jeanna (@jeannathomas) October 2, 2015
Therezie at FS. Ishmael also a possibility per DQ.
— Jeanna (@jeannathomas) October 2, 2015
Allen is both the surprise and possibly the biggest loss here. The aggressive young safety has had his share of hiccups along the way, but he's a rangy, talented player who has been very valuable for this secondary. Therezie has been a pleasant surprise thus far, but I'm not sure how he'll fare as a starter, and the Texans will try to target him when they can. Let's hope he has a nice week.
Without Tamme, the Falcons will go with Levine Toilolo and Mickey Shuler at tight end. Toilolo has been on the field a lot in 2015 and looks like a greatly improved player, even if he's not the pass catcher Tamme is. He should fill in fine this week, and can hopefully punish the Texans in the red zone if they're putting a lot of resources toward stopping Julio Jones.
We expected Hester and Coleman to miss this week. Eric Weems and Nick Williams will be in the mix at returner, while Devonta Freeman will attempt to follow his career game with another great effort. I wouldn't bet against him.
Finally, Brooks Reed will be active this week, which I have to admit comes as a mild surprise to me. If he's 100%, look for him to slip right into a starting role, with Nate Stupar and O'Brien Schofield stepping in as relief when the Falcons need it.