Report: Chris Lindstrom breaks foot, will miss at least 8 weeks

Update Sept 9th 1:10 PM - It’s been confirmed that Chris Lindstrom broke his foot. He will miss about 8 weeks:

All the preparations the Falcons made at the guard position this offseason seemed like overkill when Chris Lindstrom handily won the starting gig at right guard and the Falcons were parking an expensive player in Jamon Brown on their bench. After just one game, it’s looking like a good move again.

Lindstrom exited the Vikings game after an early up-and-down effort with an injury. We still don’t know the severity for certain, but ultra plugged-in reporter and Flowery Branch laundry-doer Jay Glazer reports that the Falcons fear it’s a fractured foot.

I’m not going to sugarcoat how much this would suck. Lindstrom isn’t great just yet, but he had the potential to be great sooner than later, and playing time was the way he was going to get there. Depending on how severe the fracture is, where it is, etc., Lindstrom will likely miss anywhere from eight weeks to the entire season. This is a huge blow for the Falcons and a huge bummer for Lindstrom.

The Falcons’ depth-building moves are the only saving grace here. Jamon Brown didn’t win the left guard job but has played pretty well at right guard at times in his career, and he could slide right in there with James Carpenter minding the left guard spot. If the team doesn’t feel great about that move, Wes Schweitzer and his series of unending improbable starters might take over, and it’s worth remembering that at this point Schweitzer has a ton of experience and is, while not exactly inspiring, better than he’s generally given credit for. If the team needs more depth and Lindstrom’s going to be gone a long time, Sean Harlow lurks on the practice squad as an emergency call-up.

We’ll hope this doesn’t prove to be true and Lindstrom won’t miss much time. If he does, the Falcons will miss him a lot, but at least they have options to replace him. Now they just have to be good options.