A new year is upon us, and the Atlanta Falcons are days away from their season finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We’ve seen several starters on the daily practice reports recently such as Julio Jones, who has a lingering hamstring injury which has allowed him to only play in 9 games this season. After not practicing on Thursday due to a positive COVID-19 test, the Falcons returned to the practice field on Friday.
Friday’s official practice report:
FULL PARTICIPATION
- DE Steven Means (hand)
- C Matt Hennessy (knee)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
- RB Ito Smith (rib)
- DE John Cominsky (shoulder)
- LB Foye Oluokun (ankle)
- G James Carpenter (groin)
- DT Marlon Davidson (knee)
- TE Luke Stocker (elbow)
NO PARTICIPATION
- WR Julio Jones (hamstring) OUT
- CB Darqueze Dennard (quad) OUT
- WR Brandon Powell (foot) OUT
- DE Charles Harris (personal matter) QUESTIONABLE
- LT Jake Matthews (rest)
With this being the season finale for the Falcons, we’ve seen the last of Julio Jones, Darqueze Dennard and Brandon Powell this season. It does beg the question why the team didn’t place Jones on injured reserve considering he hasn’t played since week 13 against the New Orleans Saints.
Jones will finish the 2020 season with 51 receptions for 771 yards and 3 touchdowns. With Powell out, we’ll see more of undrafted rookie return specialist Chris Rowland in the season finale, and the receiving corps will once again count heavily on Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage.
Additionally, Alex Mack who is on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list has been ruled out for Sunday. This is likely Mack’s final season in Atlanta, and you hate to see such a meaningful player go out missing the final two games due to a concussion and now COVID-19.