Drake London’s injury not expected to be long-term concern; other Falcons return to practice

An injury update for your Sunday: We have multiple Falcons back at practice who missed Friday night’s game, and we continue to hear that Drake London’s injury is not going to be a long-term concern. Those are more victories after we got to enjoy a rare one on Friday.

Josh Kendall at The Athletic reports that London’s injury is not something that’s going to impact the coming season, while our own Will McFadden reports Arthur Smith has not given much of an update on the timeline beyond that. It’s probably safe to say that London’s playing time in preseason, if there is any remaining, will be quite limited.

From a readiness and rapport with Marcus Mariota standpoint, that’s not ideal. London is well-regarded by the coaching staff and very talented, though, so the team’s priority has to be getting him to the season healthy. While he’s out, you’ll likely see a lot of Auden Tate and Geronimo Allison, who are competing for a spot near the bottom of the depth chart. Bryan Edwards, Olamide Zaccheaus, and KhaDarel Hodge appear locked into roles.

Multiple Falcons return to practice

Then there’s the rest of the good news. Isaiah Oliver and Troy Andersen returned to practice after missing Friday’s game, and Oliver ran with the starters. That’s a big deal, given that Mike Ford has drawn a lot of the starting nickel snaps, and hopefully is a sign that a healthy Oliver will be ready to step into his 2021 role sooner than later.

Andersen may not have a huge role outside of special teams right away, but it’s good to have him out there. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in preseason action.

Rothstein also noted that Darren Hall and Marlon Davidson were among the players not out there on Sunday during what he called a “light” day of practice, but Arthur Smith seems to think everyone will be ready for the regular season. With a long week until the Falcons travel to face the Jets in Week 2, there’s plenty of time for players to get healthy, and we’ll hope to see most of the soon-to-be-85-man-roster out there next week.