Falcons snap counts from a Week 8 loss to the Titans

Desmond Ridder departed. Grady Jarrett left. Drake London was sidelined. Keith Smith exited. Mike Hughes is dealing with a possible concussion, too. The injuries were a big problem for Atlanta on Sunday, and while it looks like we’ll see London soon, things aren’t quite as certain this week for Ridder, Smith, and Hughes.

That shook up this week’s snap counts, and it will definitely shake up next week’s if some of those players don’t return. We know Ridder will be replaced by Heinicke—that might be coming permanently—and that Hughes will likely cede punt returner duties to Scotty Miller if Hughes can’t go Sunday. Everything else is less certain or will require multiple players, as you can’t simple replace Jarrett or London 1:1 with any success.

With that grim note, let’s get to Atlanta Falcons snap counts for Week 8.

Offense

Jake Matthews: 68

Matthew Bergeron: 68

Drew Dalman: 68

Chris Lindstrom: 68

Kaleb McGary: 68

Bijan Robinson: 50

Van Jefferson: 48

Jonnu Smith: 48

Kyle Pitts: 41

Drake London: 37

Taylor Heinicke: 37

Desmond Ridder: 31

KhaDarel Hodge: 29

Scotty Miller: 21

MyCole Pruitt: 19

Tyler Allgeier: 15

Mack Hollins: 14

Cordarrelle Patterson: 12

Keith Smith: 4

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Important context here: Drake London and Keith Smith both exited the game with injury, so the Falcons largely went fullback-less and Van Jefferson picked up most of London’s snaps. That’s a good sign for Jefferson, who is being integrated into the offense more with each passing week, but both Mack Hollins and KhaDarel Hodge had more big moments in this one than he did. The team’s wide receiver group beyond London remains a bit of a muddle, and if he can’t go next week, it’ll likely be Jefferson and Hollins starting with plenty of work for Hodge and Miller.

At quarterback, obviously, the snaps are split because the Falcons parked Ridder at halftime. Heinicke very obviously outplayed him, passing for three times as many yards, taking four fewer sacks, and tossing a touchdown pass, and we now have to wait until Wednesday for Arthur Smith to announce his starter. The team’s quarterback situation is, as it has been for more or less the past two years running, an unsettled one.

In a game where the Falcons had to come from behind, we saw Robinson dominate snaps. That’s not something I actually want to see every week—Robinson is a better option as a receiver than Allgeier, but the latter is still a more effective pass protection option—but it was good to see him get a full workload after last week’s 11 snaps and headache.

Otherwise, what is there to say? The offensive line remains healthy but not extremely effective, this team’s cast of weapons mostly seem underutilized except for one or two players breaking out every week, and the offense itself is still very much a work in progress eight games in. We’ll see what happens at quarterback.

Defense

Richie Grant: 68

Jessie Bates: 68

A.J. Terrell: 68

Kaden Elliss: 65

Jeff Okudah: 63

Nate Landman: 56

David Onyemata: 53

Calais Campbell: 45

Bud Dupree: 42

LaCale London: 41

Dee Alford: 39

Arnold Ebiketie: 33

Lorenzo Carter: 30

Zach Harrison: 27

Ta’Quon Graham: 26

DeMarcco Hellams: 12

Mike Hughes: 5

Grady Jarrett: 4

Andre Smith Jr.: 3

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Smith stepped in briefly for Elliss, and London and to a lesser extent Graham soaked up all the snaps Jarrett would have taken. Fortunately, Elliss came back; Jarrett is now out for the year. London and Graham are going to be asked to replace a lot of those snaps over the long haul, and both are capable, young players with some upside to tap into. They’re just not, obviously, anywhere near Jarrett’s caliber as players.

Otherwise, you’re seeing a continued uptick in opportunities for Ebiketie, who is producing more with the opportunity, and the same for Harrison. If the Falcons elect to move Campbell inside more next to Onyemata, those are two players you should expect to pick up more snaps in the weeks ahead as well, with both offering intriguing upside even if Harrison seems like he’s going to need time to offer consistent pass rushing punch.

Special Teams

DeAngelo Malone: 30

DeMarcco Hellams: 29

Andre Smith Jr.: 28

Micah Abernathy: 26

Tre Flowers: 26

Mack Hollins: 25

KhaDarel Hodge: 20

John FitzPatrick: 19

Bradley Pinion: 17

Richie Grant: 16

Keith Smith: 14

Mike Hughes: 13

Liam McCullough: 11

Nate Landman: 9

Calais Campbell: 9

Zach Harrison: 9

Lorenzo Carter: 7

Scotty Miller: 7

Jake Matthews: 5

Matthew Bergeron: 5

Chris Lindstrom: 5

Kaleb McGary: 5

MyCole Pruitt: 5

Cordarrelle Patterson: 5

Ryan Neuzil: 5

Younghoe Koo: 5

Kyle Hinton: 5

Storm Norton: 5

David Onyemata: 4

LaCale London: 4

Dee Alford: 4

Ta’Quon Graham: 4

Tyler Allgeier: 3

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Your core special teamers remain the same here, with Micah Abernathy effectively taking all of Jaylinn Hawkins’ snaps here. The team allowed one 15 yard punt return but was otherwise extremely crisp in terms of return coverage, so something is going well here.

Not so with the punt returns, however, and even the kick return that Keith Smith scooped up. Mike Hughes has had some success in the past—he returned a punt for Kansas City back in 2021 and has had a few respectable years as a kick returner—but his work fielding punts this season has not been inspiring. We may see Scotty Miller taking over there in the future, while Patterson remains the guy on kick returns, as he ought to be.