Injuries, as with every team, have played a major role in the Atlanta Falcons' 2025 season. They saw Darnell Mooney go down in training camp, all three of their starting cornerbacks have missed time, Drake London has missed the last month, and Michael Penix Jr. tore his ACL again.
To add to those injuries are breakout defensive lineman Zach Harrison and the two least reliable players in the NFL, Troy Andersen and Bralen Trice. Unfortunately, those three players won't return this season, according to head coach Raheem Morris.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said inside linebacker Troy Andersen, defensive lineman Zach Harrison and edge rusher Bralen Trice will NOT return this season, as three games remain.
— Terrin Waack (@TerrinWaack) December 17, 2025
It is a disappointing end for each of them—all for different reasons.
2025 season officially ends for three Atlanta Falcons defenders
This is a rough way to end the season for former Ohio State star Zach Harrison. The 2023 third-round pick was finally displaying the talent that he hadn't fully showcased since dominating for Olentangy Orange High School in Lewis Center, Ohio.
The third-year defender was among the team leaders in sacks before re-aggravating his knee injury in early November. He will finish his seven-game season with career highs in sacks (4.5), tackles for loss (5), and forced fumbles (2).
Meanwhile, injuries are nothing new for the other two. Starting with Andersen, he has been the textbook definition of injury-prone since being drafted in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
After playing a full, snap-limited rookie season, he has played nine of what will be 51 games after the season's end and will have missed every game this season. He has dealt with pec, head, and knee injuries.
Andersen is due to hit the open market in the offseason. If (and it is a huge if) a team can keep him healthy, they could have a star on their hands. He has demonstrated exceptional playmaking ability in limited action, including his Defensive Player of the Week performance against the Saints last year (a game in which he was injured).
What makes this hurt even more is that Andersen was the main return in the Julio Jones trade...
As for Trice, his NFL career has started in the worst way possible. After the Falcons drafted him in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, he tore his ACL in his first preseason game. He then reinjured that knee before the start of this season.
So, he will enter his third season having not played a single snap in the regular season. You can only hope that he gets fully healthy this offseason. He is tremendously talented, but it is scary how long this injury has lingered.