Atlanta Falcons: Ryan Schraeder and Ricardo Allen back to practice

The Atlanta Falcons started to get closer to full health as offensive tackle Ryan Schraeder and safety Ricardo Allen cleared the concussion protocol

One of the reasons the Atlanta Falcons lost their last game was health. They entered the Week 4 contest with a 3-0 record, but they had to fill some holes. Starting safety Ricardo Allen was out, as was starting right tackle Ryan Schraeder.

Both were dealing with concussions and the team struggled without them. At safety rookie Damontae Kazee played fine, but wasn’t a difference maker. He’s still so early in his career that starting wasn’t really part of the plan.

At tackle, Ty Sambrailo got the nod and it was a noticeable difference. With Schraeder out, the line struggled to give quarterback Matt Ryan the time he needed to get the ball downfield.

There was some good news Monday though as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitutional tweeted out that both players have cleared the concussion protocol and will be good to go for Week 6 against the Miami Dolphins.

Also missing from their lone loss were receivers Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu — both went down during the game against Buffalo. News on that front has been quiet, but the belief has been that Jones will be fine to play, but Sanu won’t be back for a couple of weeks.

Next: Atlanta Falcons: 2018 NFL Draft Notebook Vol. 1

Should Jones suit up — and no further setbacks for Schraeder pop up — the Falcons offense will look much better after getting just 10 points in their final game before the bye week. They also find themselves looking up now as their 3-1 record has them a half-game behind the 3-1 Carolina Panthers. That means they’ll take all the positive health news they can get.