Time for the Atlanta Falcons to Hit the Reset Button
Atlanta Falcons: Loss was the theme as they entered their bye week. They lost their first game of the season against the Buffalo Bills.
Loss was the theme for the Atlanta Falcons as they entered their bye week.
They lost their first game of the season against the Buffalo Bills in Week 3, and, in the process also lost four starters; namely, receiver Julio Jones, defensive end Vic Beasley, right tackle Ryan Schraeder, and free safety Ricardo Allen.
Jones injured his hip flexor against the Bills, and Beasly had a sore hamstring since Week 2.
Schraeder and Allen had, meanwhile, both suffered concussions; the former against the Green Bay Packers on September 17th, and the latter against the Detroit Lions in Week 3.
Finally, defensive tackle Jack Crawford’s season ended with a torn pectoral muscle, also against Buffalo.
Atlanta has, as a result, promoted defensive tackle Taniela Tupou to the 53-man roster, listing him second behind Dontari Poe at defensive tackle on the depth chart.
They say, though, that time heals all wounds, and that was literally the case for the Falcons. Well, maybe not all.
Twenty-and-two of Atlanta’s opening-day starters returned to practice on Monday with the lone exception of wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, who left the game against the Bills with an injured hamstring and seems rather unlikely to play against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Sanu worked, along with defensive tackle Courtney Upshaw and linebacker LaRoy Reynolds, off to the side with the training staff.
The Falcons, notwithstanding that, are, for all intents and purposes, back in full swing.
“It’s a perfect time for us to reset,” head coach Dan Quinn said.
"“For whatever reason, the bye hit us at the right time based on some injuries. It was great to have those guys back.” – Coach Quinn"
No kidding; Jones leads the league in average receiving yards and receptions per game since his debut in 2011 and has 19 catches for 295 yards this season; Beasley led the NFL in sacks leader last season; and Schraeder and Allen have been team mainstays – the former has started 46 of his 58 career games while the latter has started 33 of his 34 games.
“We feel better about where our health is than maybe a week ago,” said Quinn.
“But we are fortunate that if we have to, we have other guys here that we feel have the versatility to play in the different spots. We are encouraged about where we are today without making any other moves.”
The Falcons’ only true weakness at the moment is turnovers, which, together with the aforementioned injuries, is what cost then the Bills game.
The defense has one pick and one fumble recovery while the offense has five interceptions and one lost fumble, which ranks Atlanta 28th in turnover margin (minus-4), but that something else that the Falcons had extra time to work on during the bye.
“We are going to work like crazy to get those parts of your game, the battle, the prep, the competition and all of the practice things we want to improve upon,” Quinn promised.
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All things considered, the harmless Dolphins should provide a nice warm-up for the Falcons’ return to action.