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The Falcons have been relatively fortunate thus far during the preseason, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dealing with some injuries heading into Saturday’s game against the Jaguars. In addition to players like Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman—who are being held out purely due to a coaches’ decision—there are several players who will be held out due to injury.
Deion Jones, Ricardo Allen and Marvin Hall won’t play Saturday. Desmond Trufant and Matt Bryant will be game-day decisions. Team rep says none of these injuries are considered serious, would play if this was a regular season game.
— Jason Butt (@JasonHButt) August 23, 2018
Based on Jason Butt’s reporting, we’ve learned that C/G Ben Garland, WR Marvin Hall, LB Deion Jones, and FS Ricardo Allen have all been declared out for the Jaguars game. In addition, K Matt Bryant and CB Desmond Trufant will be game-time decisions.
We heard last week that Deion Jones was dealing with a minor strain, so he is likely being held out for precautionary reasons. That will also give the team more opportunity to evaluate their young LBs—namely Duke Riley and Foye Oluokun—that are competing for the starting WILL role in the base package.
Matt Bryant has missed the first two preseason games with his injury, but he is reportedly getting closer to returning this week. We’ll hear on Saturday if he’s ready to go, but I wouldn’t be overly concerned if the team decides to hold him out once again.
Hall and Allen are dealing with “undisclosed” injuries. The team has stated that none of these are considered serious, and these players would be on the field in a regular season game. Hall’s absence will likely give more snaps to players like Devin Gray, Reggie Davis, and Dontez Byrd—who are battling it out for a spot on the practice squad.
Desmond Trufant had been spotted doing work off the side earlier in the week, and it appears that he has some sort of minor injury. Again, as with the others, this appears to be more precautionary than anything. His absence would likely give more snaps to the reserve CBs, like Isaiah Oliver and Blidi Wreh-Wilson.
What are your thoughts on this injury report? Any players that you’re concerned about, or are you happy with the team being cautious at this point in the preseason?