Falcons return and lose key defenders from IR before Week 15 against Raiders

The Atlanta Falcons will have second-round pick Ruke Orhorhoro back from injured reserve before Monday Night's game against the Raiders. But they also lost starting linebacker Troy Andersen for the remainder of the regular season.

It is great to see the rookie return before his first season ends. He made visible improvements each week up until his injury against the Buccaneers.

As for Andersen, it is yet another season lost to injury. After playing in every game as a rookie (albeit, with limited snaps), the second-round pick has played in just nine games in two seasons, each ending on injured reserve.

Falcons gain depth on defensive line but lose their playmaking linebacker

Ruke Orhorhoro will be reunited with his position group playing much better football. The rookie out of Clemson is still looking for his first career sack but has five tackles and a quarterback hit in 63 defensive snaps.

At the linebacker position, the Falcons will rely on Nate Landman and rookie JD Bertrand to complement the outstanding Kaden Elliss.

The big story is Andersen's continued inability to stay healthy. Last season, he missed Week 2 with a concussion and then tore his pectoral in Week 3, ending his season.

This year, he played the first handful of games before leaving in the fourth quarter of his best game as a professional with a knee injury. With his regular season ending, he will have only played in three of the 13 games since.

To this point, injuries have prevented him from being one of the league's best. He averages over nine tackles a game (155 over 17 games) when he plays at least 50% of the defensive snaps.

We can only hope he will find a way to stay healthy in what will be a contract year in 2025.