In Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins, the injury bug swept over the Atlanta Falcons in their 34-10 loss. No Michael Penix Jr., no Drake London, and no Zach Harrison had the Dirty Birds already fighting an uphill battle, while losing Jessie Bates III to a knee injury made a bad situation even worse.
This weekend, the Falcons will travel to Foxborough for a Super Bowl LI rematch with the New England Patriots. New England has won five games in a row behind the elite play of second-year quarterback Drake Maye, but the Pats will be missing some key pieces of their own due to injury .
Both teams will be entering the weekend banged up, but Atlanta's defense will face a tall task in slowing down one of the brighest young quarterbacks in the NFL. But luckily. it won't be Kirk Cousins in Week 9, as Michael Penix Jr. will return after missing last week due to a bone bruise in his knee.
Falcons' final Week 9 injury report looks straight out of a Halloween nightmare
The injury report for Atlanta has felt like a laundry list this week. Between big names like Penix, London, Bates, Harrison, Jalon Walker, Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts, Leonard Floyd, and Jake Matthews, the Falcons could be incredibly shorthanded this week.
17 players were listed on Friday's injury report, so here it is.
Did not participate:
- CB Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring)
- OL Storm Norton (foot)
- WR Casey Washington (back)
- DL David Onyemata (rest)
- DL Zach Harrison (knee)
Limited participation:
- S Jessie Bates III (knee)
- EDGE Jalon Walker (groin)
- ILB Kaden Elliss (rest)
- EDGE Leonard Floyd (hamstring)
- T Jake Matthews (ankle)
- DL Ta'Quon Graham (calf)
Full:
- WR Darnell Mooney (hamstring
- WR Drake London (hip)
- TE Kyle Pitts (ankle)
- QB Michael Penix Jr. (knee)
- RB Tyler Allgeier (knee)
- CB Natrone Brooks (shoulder)
Out for Week 9:
- CB Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring)
- OL Storm Norton (foot)
- WR Casey Washington (back)
- DL Zach Harrison (knee)
Let's break this down, because there's a lot to unpack here.
London, Penix, Allgeier, and Matthews were all upgraded from limited status yesterday to full participation today, and none of them enter Week 9 with an injury designation. Moreover. Darnell Mooney logged a full session for the second straight day, and is good to go for Sunday.
However, Casey Washington won't play against the Patriots, setting the stage for more snaps for both KhaDarrel Hodge and David Sills V in Penix's first start back in the lineup. Luckily, London and Pitts will command enough defensive attention for Bijan Robinson to return to form.
On defense, Bates and Walker were limited for the third straight day, giving them a real shot to play. Floyd was upgraded to limited yesterday after not participating in Wednesday's practice, and was limited once again today.
However, rookie DB Billy Bowman Jr. was limited on both Wednesday and Thursday, but didn't participate on Friday, as he was ruled out for his third straight game. This means that Dee Alford wil more than likely start in the nickel once again.
The most interesting case here is Norton, who finished last week up with a full practice session, and did the same earlier this week. But his season debut won't come in Week 9mu after not practicing on Friday, so Atlanta hopes to have him back in Week 10 in Berlin.
David Onyemata and Kaden Elliss will play after some rest days, but Harrison will miss another game after being downgraded to no participation this week. Brandon Dorlus, Sam Roberts, and Ruke Orhorhoro will have to step up for Jeff Ulbrich's unit in his absence.