Falcoholinks: All the Falcons news you need for Monday, Nov. 2

With the Falcons’ Thursday night game, we got a respite from our normal Sunday anxieties. We’re looking at the latest coaching rumors and more in Monday’s edition of Falcoholinks.

Coaching rumor mill

One of the largest looming decisions for the Atlanta Falcons will be who the team selects to be its next head coach. There are a number of names that have been circulating, and over the weekend reports emerged that the Falcons are interested in Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett, and the hottest name: Kansas City OC Eric Bienemy.

Calvin Ridley day-to-day

Calvin Ridley picked up a foot injury in Thursday night’s game against Carolina, and while it looked like Atlanta might be without their star receiver for a stretch of time, subsequent X-rays and an MRI showed only a minor injury.

Ridley is considered day-to-day, and while there’s a chance he doesn’t suit up against the Broncos on Sunday, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it wasn’t as bad as it looked at the time.

Trading Takk?

The Falcons declined defensive end Takkarist McKinley’s fifth-year option earlier in the year, and Adam Schefter is now reporting that Atlanta is interested in moving the former first-rounder before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.

McKinley’s tenure in Atlanta has been marred by injuries and a failure to live up to his first-round draft status, so don’t be shocked if he’s wearing another team’s uniform soon.

Darqueze Dennard to return shortly

Falcons corner Darqueze Dennard has been on IR since he left the Week 3 game against the Bears, but per interim head coach Raheem Morris, he could be available as early as this Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

Atlanta’s defense has looked improved over the last couple of weeks, but they could certainly use Dennard’s veteran presence in the secondary.

Julio closing in on another record

Wide receiver Julio Jones seemingly sets or breaks a record every week, and now he’s closing in on Jerry Rice’s ten year yardage record. Jerry Rice tallied 13,275 yards through his first ten seasons, and Julio only needs 467 receiving yards over the rest of the season to be the all-time leader in that metric.