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The Atlanta Falcons can ill afford to lose one of their best offensive linemen against the tenacious Kansas City Chiefs, but Jake Matthews is indeed injured, and we’re not sure he’s going to return. The team has announced he is questionable at this time.
Jake Matthews is now off the table. He's working on releasing and backpedaling. His helmet is on & the doctors are putting a brace on.
— Knox Bardeen (@knoxbardeen) December 4, 2016
The Falcons might be best off letting Matthews rest up and heal if there’s any risk of aggravation, but you can say that about any player with any injury. The reality is that Matthews is a vital cog as Ryan’s blindside protector on one of the league’s more effective lines, and that without him, the Falcons are turning to veteran presence Tom Compton, who is perfectly solid but obviously a significant downgrade.
We’ll see where Matthews is after the hope. Fingers very much crossed.