As if the injury bug couldn't get any worse for the Atlanta Falcons across the last 48 hours, you'd be dead wrong. After losing Jalon Walker for the season due to a torn ACL during Tuesday's practice, Jessie Bates has said "hold my beer", as he's the latest important Falcon to be sidelined due to injury.
It got overshadowed by the Walker news, but Bates didn't practice on Tuesday. Upon first glance, you'd think it was just a scheduled rest day, but when he didn't practice on Wednesday either, alarm bells started to fly. Jeff Ulbrich's defense has dealt with enough heartache across the last few days.
The 29-year-old was spotted on the sideline with no pads on during the Falcons' practice on Wednesday, and DeMarcco Hellams has stepped in with the first-team defense in lieu of the three-time All-Pro. Hopefully this injury isn't too major and we'll have JB3 back out there sometime soon.
Is Jessie Bates holding in, or are the Falcons being quiet about an injury?
The most bizarre part about the Bates injury is that we have absolutely no idea what's going on. The team has given us no word as to why he's been out, and we have no information about the extent of the injury--whether that be the severity of the injury keeping him out or what exactly he injured.
The other possibility here is that this isn't an injury at all. He could be reheating Bijan Robinson's nachos and is holding in for a new contract, but that feels pretty hard to believe. That would mean that a Bates extension is close, and now that Bijan was extended, I'd imagine the Dirty Birds aren't prioritizing any additional deals yet.
The star safety is entering a contract year, but is Ian Cunningham going to pay him anytime soon? Is he going to pay him at all? He and Xavier Watts make up one of the league's best safety duos, but Bates is coming off a down season and it'll soon be time for Atlanta to fully pass the baton to Watts.
The Falcons have the money to pay him, especially with Watts still on his rookie deal, but the Wake Forest product has been floated as a potential trade candidate--especially if things fall off the rails before the trade deadline. A safety about to enter his thirties doesn't exactly fit this team's timeline.
Like Jalon Walker, Jessie Bates is someone this defense cannot afford to be without for an extended period of time. Hopefully this is nothing serious if it is an injury, but if it's a hold-in, some difficult conversations might need to be had. I just wish we had more answers about what is going on.
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