Devonta Freeman, Julio Jones won’t play tonight against the Jets

If you were really hoping to see Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones for like, I dunno, five snaps, you’re out of luck. The team has included both players on their list of inactives for the Friday night tilt against the Jets, alongside injured Falcons Matt Bryant and Ty Sambrailo. That leaves 86 other players to suit up.

Opportunity follows in the wake of all these inactives, as you might imagine. With no Julio, the Falcons’ young receivers will get in the game even more quickly and at least one of them will get a handful of extra snaps to prove himself. Without Freeman, Ito Smith, Justin Crawford and Malik Williams should get a ton of work against the Jets, and placekicker David Marvin and swing tackles candidates Matt Gono and Austin Pasztor should get all the work they can handle.

Why no Julio or Freeman, though? It’s hard to say for certain, as the team hasn’t said, but it could just be an abundance of injury-related caution or an enduring fear of teams named after aircraft. Either way, it’s not a big deal so long as neither one is legitimately hurt.

Kickoff is about an hour away, so stay tuned!