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If you monitor the Atlanta Falcons practice reports that we share daily, you likely noticed Kaleb McGary randomly popped up as a non-participant in Friday’s practice. His designation for Sunday’s game was listed as questionable due to a personal matter, and the Falcons’ starting right tackle has now been officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
We hope all is well with McGary, who has largely been a very solid starting right tackle for the Falcons in 2020, and that he’ll be available for Week 15.
In his place, expect to see Matt Gono or John Wetzel, who both serve as the team’s reserve offensive tackles. Wetzel technically has more experience, as he has 24 career starts, but in limited action Gono has been impressive. We likely won’t know until kickoff who will start, but it’s another setback for an Atlanta team that already is down starting left guard James Carpenter.
Additionally, the Falcons have also promoted safety T.J. Green and offensive lineman Willie Wright. Green was signed to the Falcons practice squad in late-September and last started a game for the Indianapolis Colts in 2017, and will fill in as safety depth with Ricardo Allen out against the Chargers.
Wright signed to the team’s practice squad after being cut by the Cleveland Browns prior to the regular season. Although Wright played center for the Browns, he has quite a bit of positional versatility and will fill in as the last man off the bench for Sunday, we’d expect.
Atlanta’s still good enough to beat Los Angeles if they play well, but being down two starting offensive linemen, Julio Jones, and Ricardo Allen is a tough blow.