Atlanta Falcons injury report delivers no good news

This time of the year every team in the NFL has injury issues and the Atlanta Falcons are no different.

Looking at the Atlanta Falcons injury report, one thing is clear, there are a lot of really important pieces that they could be without this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As expected, Devonta Freeman and Austin Hooper did not practice this week. No idea why Dan Quinn is trying to be like Bill Belichick and hide the fact that Hooper is more than day to day or week to week. Fans understand the blow that not having him creates every week, so just knock us out of our misery.

From the looks of it, Kemal Ishmael will be out with a concussion this week as well and Adrian Clayborn has been limited in his time of the practice field.

The big-name that pops off the Injury Report is Takk McKinley.

We all remember last week after his first half-sack against the Panthers, he immediately came out of the game for the Falcons. If he is unable to go this week versus the Bucs, that will hurt the Falcons more than Austin Hooper’s absence.

Before you lose your minds, let me explain.

Yes, missing Hooper on offense is a big blow. However, the Atlanta Falcons offense is loaded. There are weapons all over the field that make plays and have all year. The defense doesn’t have that, not even a little.

Sure, Takk has been inexplicably absent for most of the season, however, Julio Jones pep talk really sunk in with Takk. By all accounts, he took it personally and felt that his play was a big reason that Dan Quinn might lose his job.

Whether the stat sheet will reflect it or not, Takk has been a much different player since then and the game film shows that.

The Atlanta Falcons need him on the field as it looks like he and Vic Beasley are finally starting to find a rhythm together and we need that to continue against the Bucs.