The Atlanta Falcons have been dealing with a major loss on defense this week, and no, I'm not talking about Jalon Walker. Jessie Bates III wasn't at the last two practices, and we had no idea why. It could've been an injury, and there was the lingering possibility he'd try to hold in for a new contract.
For all of the speculation about the extent of Bates' absence, we finally know what kept him sidelined. While addressing the media prior to Friday morning's practice session, Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski managed to squash all possible concern on this front--and divulged more about the injury.
Stefanski revealed that Bates is dealing with a "minor back thing", but said the injury won't keep him out long-term. And he revealed that the star safety would be back at practice on Friday, although not in the manner we would like. But anything is better than dealing with another contract stalemate.
We finally know why Jessie Bates hasn't been at Atlanta Falcons practice
However, those words come with a caveat. The AJC's Daniel Flick reported that while the 29-year-old will be back at practice, he isn't going to actually practice. This means that Jessie Bates will miss his third consecutive session, but him being back should imply that a return is close if they're going to have him back out there at all.
While the three-time All-Pro has been sidelined, DeMarcco Hellams has taken first-team reps next to Xavier Watts, while Sydney Brown has done more work out of the nickel. And while it's not ideal to have Bates sidelined, the silver lining is that the Dirty Birds don't expect it to be an extended absence.
The nice part is to know is that the mystery is finally over. Stefanski hadn't spoke to the media on Tuesday or Wednesday, so there was no way to know what was keeping the Wake Forest product on the sideline. And thankfully, Stefanski and this Falcons staff prefers to play it safe with injury rehab.
Bates and Watts lead one of the NFL's best safety duos, so if JB3 was to miss any extended time, it would be another devastating blow to the defense. The elite safeties make the lives of the corners much easier--which has made the secondary one of the league's best in generating takeaways.
Thankfully, this isn't much of a concern now. Kevin Stefanski quickly managed to squash any speculation of a hold-in, and knowing that Jessie Bates III is dealing with a minor back injury hopefully means we'll see him back to full strength in the next few days--but an extension is another story.
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