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Coming off a primetime win on Thursday Night Football over the division rival Carolina Panthers, the Falcons are hoping to use their extra rest before Week 9 to help the injured players on their roster get healthy. Both CB Kendall Sheffield and WR Calvin Ridley left the game with injury—although Atlanta did get some good news today in that Ridley’s injury is not believed to be serious.
The Falcons announced another bit of good news on Friday, as 2019 fourth-round pick John Cominsky was finally activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
We have activated John Cominsky from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 30, 2020
- https://t.co/ViJYiMQcZO pic.twitter.com/uaKvQlj3qt
Cominsky missed the past two games on the COVID-19 list after testing positive on October 17. The team has clearly missed his pass rushing ability on both the edge and the interior, as Atlanta struggled to put pressure on opponents in Week 6 and Week 7. Thus far in 2020, Cominsky has played a versatile rotational role on the defensive line—primarily as a pass rushing threat. He has 9 total tackles, 2 TFL, 4 pressures, and 1 fumble recovery in 5 games and has played about 36% of the snaps when active.
The extra rest and practice time could allow the Falcons to get back both Cominsky and second-round DT Marlon Davidson in time for Week 9’s matchup with the Denver Broncos. Davidson was also recently activated from the COVID-19 list. These are two young players that Atlanta was counting on to bolster their defensive line rotation—hopefully their healthy return will help continue the recent defensive improvements.