Matt Ryan not practicing Wednesday, still hopeful for Seahawks game

When Matt Ryan went down with an ankle injury against the Rams, it was a little unbelievable. Ryan, after all, has barely missed snaps over the years as the team’s iron man quarterback, having started 125 consecutive games from 2010-2019 thus far. The only two games he’s missed in his career came way back in 2009, but when you’re getting crushed into a fine powder by a team like the Rams, these things happen.

The intrigue now concerns whether Ryan will be able to suit up against the Seahawks. He did not practice Wednesday, but Dan Quinn sounded at least somewhat optimistic that he’d do so by the end of the week. Either way, his status for Sunday is very much up in the air.

In a lost season, the Falcons shouldn’t try to rush Ryan back if he can’t go, no matter how ugly a Matt Schaub-led offense might look against the Seahawks. The flip side of that is that Ryan, if remotely able to go, is going to want to very badly. I’d consider him a true coin flip for Sunday.

Ditto Desmond Trufant, who is testing his toe in hopes of returning Sunday. If he doesn’t, it’ll be Kendall Sheffield soaking up a ton of snaps again, with Isaiah Oliver and Blidi Wreh-Wilson splitting snaps on the other side and Damontae Kazee operating as the slot cornerback. Ito Smith, who is in the concussion protocol after suffering his second head injury of the year, is going to be out.

With the possibility that Schaub will play, the likelihood that Brian Hill and Qadree Ollison will both be active, and the possibility that Russell Gage and either Olamide Zaccheaus or Christian Blake will have larger roles on Sunday, this offense could look different than it has in years. More to come as the week wears on.