The Atlanta Falcons have been without star cornerback A.J. Terrell for the last four weeks after he was placed on injured reserve due to a groin injury suffered in Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers. And even though he's started to regress, the secondary has started to feel the weight of his absence.
The Falcons already entered Week 6 with the sixth-worst passing offense, and a matchup with the Chicago Bears didn't help that fact. With Terrell sidelined, C.J. Henderson stepped up as the CB1, but he was also inactive due to a groin injury, it meant that Mike Hughes would be the top cornerback.
And unfortunately, that went about as horribly as expected. In the 31-23 loss, this Terrell-less Falcons' secondary was lit up by Caleb Williams. He completed 30 of 36 pass attempts for 305 yards and a touchdown and this defense (especially Hughes) couldn't stop Chicago's army of elite weapons.
Mike Hughes is becoming a major issue for the Atlanta Falcons' secondary
The veteran cornerback was mainly culpable for the issues on the backend., According to Pro Football Focus, Hughes was targeted seven times on Sunday, and he surrendered seven receptions for 92 yards. So much for Jeff Ulbrich saying he's a high-level CB. He's straight-up buns in coverage.
And given Hughes is the Falcons cornerback teams keep picking on, his issues in coverage are beginning to sink this team. He's only getting playing time still because he's a good tackler and run defender, but has no business being a starter for a team with any hopes of competing this season.
The only cornerback in the NFL who has given up more receiving yards than Mike Hughes this season is Jacksonville's Jarrian Jones, while his 27 receptions allowed are fifth-most among corners. The 29-year-old is slow, unathletic, and both of Chicago's WRs, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III, made him look foolish--and anybody could have seen that coming
The good news is that A.J. Terrell is eligible to be activated off IR prior to Atlanta's Week 7 matchup against the 49ers, which means this experiment can finally end next week and the Dirty Birds can move make a change in the starting lineup-but whether Jeff Ulbrich will do it remains to be seen.
Once A.J. Terrell returns, the Atlanta Falcons can finally bench Mike Hughes
And assuming Terrell is able to return on Sunday, it's coming at the perfect time due to Hughes' struggles. This means they can finally bench him. The only reason they didn't before was a lack of options, but given Henderson has out-played him this season, the opportunity to do so is very clear.
It's not like the Falcons have a lack of options on the back-end. Once Terrell returns, they can start the All-Pro next to Henderson with second-round rookie Avieon Terrell splitting reps between the nickel and the boundary. By that logic, the 29-year-old could be the fourth-best option on the outside.
All three of them have been better options in coverage this season, and then you continue the platoon of Sydney Brown and Billy Bowman Jr. (with Aveion mixing in) in the nickel. That would be the optimal corner rotation, since the former first-round pick is clearly finished and a shell of his old self.
It's incredibly frustrating knowing that Terry Fontenot extended Mike Hughes before last season, because this staff is forced to stick with him for this year even though they know he isn't working out. The only hope for him to see the field less should be Terrell's return having less of a need for him.
And the good news is that Kevin Stefanski told reporters that things are trending toward A.J. Terrell being designated to return from IR this week.
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