Falcons activate DL Tyeler Davison from reserve/COVID-19 list, sign OL Rick Leonard

The Falcons now only have 12 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list with two days to go until kickoff against the Buffalo Bills, which qualifies as progress.

With Jason Spriggs hitting the list last night, the Falcons signed offensive lineman Rick Leonard to replace him. Leonard spent time on the Falcons practice squad earlier this season, and the team gets help on their other line as well, as defensive tackle Tyeler Davison is being activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Davison had only been active three of the past five weeks and had seen his playing time dip, but that’s unlikely to continue this week with the Falcons needing to shuffle their defensive line a bit given that Marlon Davidson and Jonathan Bullard are still on the list today. Expect Davison to be active and pulling more playing time than he has since Week 12 against Jacksonville, when he was on the field for 45% of Atlanta’s defensive snaps.

Leonard will likely be active as the team’s emergency tackle this week, with Colby Gossett also figuring to be in the mix if an injury crops up. Leonard was signed because both swing tackle Jason Spriggs and practice squad tackle Willie Beavers are currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list, making it essential to have a reserve they’re comfortable with. Leonard overlapped with Terry Fontenot in New Orleans, where he was a 4th round draft selection back in 2018, but he has yet to appear in a regular season game in the NFL.

We’ll hope more players are activated between now and Sunday, so stay tuned.