Falcoholinks: All the Falcons news you need for Friday, Sept. 28

What better salve for a heart-wrenching divisional loss against the Saints than a win on Sunday at Cincinnati's expense? That’s our mindset as we cruise into the weekend.

The Bengals and Falcons meet Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and while it’s only Week 4, this game has strong implications on Atlanta’s playoff aspirations. Grab a scalding cup of black coffee, plan to raid your local grocer’s freezer section of Skyline Chili and throw it away because that stuff’s garbage, and get amped for game day in this morning’s edition of Falcoholinks.

Jeanna hits FOX 5 Atlanta

Sufferer of no fools and the Falcoholic’s own Jeanna Thomas is joining FOX 5 Atlanta for a segment on its new show, Thursday Night Kickoff. For her first appearance, Jeanna solicited responses from Twitter to a seemingly simple question: What would you do to keep the injury bug away for the remainder of the season?

She received less than simple answers — summoning Cthulhu, bankrolling hair restoration for Dan Quinn, complimenting Saints fans. You’re a creative bunch, for sure. Make sure you tune in to FOX 5 Atlanta every Thursday at 7:00 pm for Thursday Night Kickoff.

Calvin Ridley under a microscope

Did you like what you saw on Sunday from the rookie wide receiver? Unnecessary question, I suppose. Ridley was downright phenomenal against the Saints, and has injected speed and elusiveness to Atlanta’s offense.

Our Allen Strk keyed in on Ridley’s game for his weekly “A Closer Look” feature, and it definitely warrants a read. Allen examined the plays where Ridley didn’t reach the end zone, but still made an impact in the game’s progression. His film breakdowns are top-level, so be sure to check out this week’s.

Injury update

As is necessary and customary around these parts of late, we take a look at the all-important injury update. The Falcons and Bengals both released their official injury reports after Thursday’s practice, and there’s some welcome good news for the Falcons.

Devonta Freeman finally returned to practice, albeit in limited capacity. His status is still questionable for Sunday, and we will learn more about his availability later this afternoon.

For the Bengals, A.J. Green seems good to go, while cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was downgraded and did not participate.

Safety Season

The Falcons have lost both Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen for the year, so the safety position seems to be a revolving door until the team settles in on what appears to work best. Recent additions Sharrod Neasman and Keith Tandy could push for meaningful snaps soon, so Dave Choate took a deeper dive into the state of the safeties and what it means to the defense as a whole.

A.J. vs. J.J.

If we are to take Bengals’ head coach Marvin Lewis at his word, we’ve got an otherworldly wide receiver match-up slated for Sunday. Lewis told the AJC that A.J. Green is poised to start against the Falcons, marking the first time that Green and Julio Jones will meet in the NFL.

This will be a fun one to watch for football fans who want to watch two of the game’s best at the apex of their respective careers. Of course, nothing is set in stone until the official inactives list comes out, but from the Bengals’ perspective Green appears ready to go.