The Falcons listed both of the Terrell brothers as questionable to play against the 49ers in Week 7. A.J. Terrell has been on injured reserve for the last four weeks because of a groin injury, but he returned to practice this week and will need to be activated by Saturday afternoon in order to play this week. Avieon Terrell has been limited by a back injury. The Falcons also listed wide receiver Beaux Collins (hip), linebacker Kendal Daniels (neck), defensive tackle Gervon Dexter (hamstring), defensive end Samson Ebukam (hamstring), cornerback C.J. Henderson (groin), defensive end Za’Darius Smith (neck), offensive tackle Cameron Williams (ankle), and wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus (shoulder) as questionable. Collins and Williams are also on injured reserve and would need to be activated to play. Defensive back Billy Bowman (hamstring), linebacker Divine Deablo (forearm), offensive tackle Michael Jerrell (bicep), and running back Brian Robinson (hamstring) have all been ruled out
The Atlanta Falcons aren't exactly off to the best start for the 2026 regular season. It's certainly not the best sign when your fans are chanting for the fourth-string quarterback to come in, which is what was happening in their Week 2 34-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers . When teams are struggling as much as the Falcons are, tension rises, and tempers can be more touchy than usual. That's what happened when Falcons wide receiver Drake London got into a verbal confrontation from the sidelines with someone in the home stands on Sunday. It looked like London was yelling profanities to someone in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd, as his teammate, wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus , held him back. After the game, London said the fan said "personal stuff" to him, and he felt disrespected. The receiver added that he knows reacting is "not the right thing to do." "I'm going to be honest here, I don't take light to disrespect at all," London said. "I don't care who you are. I'm a man, too, at the end of the day. So, if you want to get on a personal level, I can get there, too, but it's not the right thing to do. So, I got to take accountability for that, and I got to push forward and be the bigger man in some of those situations. "But with how the game was going and what was said to me, I don't like it," London said. When asked if it was a fan, London said, "It was somebody." London finished the game with four receptions for 51 yards, the most receiving yards by far for the Falcons in Week 2. Again, not the best offensive showing. With Michael Penix Jr . still sidelined as he recovers from an ACL injury and Tua Tagovailoa dealing with an oblique injury, it was once again veteran Cooper Rush at the helm. He went 10-of-17 for 86 yards, two interceptions and a lost fumble. He was eventually benched for undrafted rookie Jack Strand , who didn't fare much better with a pick of his own. "I think we as playmakers, us in the backfield, us on the outside, on the wing, we got to go out there and make plays regardless," London said. "We're all in the league for a reason, right? We're all good football players. I don't care if you're fourth string or you're the starter." This offseason, London signed a four-year, $141 million contract extension with the Falcons, keeping him there through the 2030 season. Up next for the Falcons are three primetime games. First up are the Green Bay Packers , followed by the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens
Falcons wide receiver Drake London got into a verbal altercation with a fan during the team’s 34-3 home loss to the Panthers. Sideline cameras showed London shouting profanities to an unknown person as teammate Olamide Zaccheaus held him back. London later told reporters that he was reacting to “personal stuff” being said to him, and he knows his reaction was “not the right thing to do.” “I’m going to be honest here, I don’t take light to disrespect at all,” London said, via Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “I don’t care who you are. I’m a man, too, at the end of the day. So, if you want to get on a personal level, I can get there, too, but it’s not the right thing to do. So, I got to take accountability for that, and I got to push forward and be the bigger man in some of those situations.” The Falcons have not had their top two quarterbacks, Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa, this season. They have a team passer rating of 38.2 with journeyman Cooper Rush and undrafted rookie Jack Strand. London caught four passes for 51 yards after making two catches for 29 yards last week. When asked if it was a fan he was exchanging words with, London replied, “It was somebody.” “But with how the game was going and what was said to me, I don’t like it,” London said
The Falcons kept four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, but they still needed to get creative with their plans at the position for Sunday’s game against the Steelers. Cooper Rush is set to start after Tua Tagovailoa was scratched due to an oblique injury he suffered in practice this week. Michael Penix is also inactive as he works back from last year’s torn ACL, which leaves undrafted rookie Jack Strand as Rush’s backup. The prospect of turning to Strand is a real one after Rush suffered back spasms on Saturday and all the upheaval also has the Falcons with a plan in place for a third emergency option. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that will be wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus. Zaccheaus has never thrown a pass in the NFL, but he does have nine rushing attempts. That could come in handy because Schefter adds that he’ll also be third on the depth chart at running back behind Bijan Robinson and Brian Robinson. If Zaccheaus is seeing time at either of those positions, it probably won’t be a good sign for the Falcons’ chances of opening the season with a win
Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson is widely considered one of the top offensive minds in the NFL . He's credited with engineering a significant step forward for last year's Bears offense, obviously, but before that, he was the offensive coordinator in Detroit, where he helped the Lions become one of the best offenses in football. During that time, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown developed into one of the best in the league at his position, catching at least 100 passes for at least 1,100 yards in each of Johnson's three seasons at the helm and earning a monster contract extension that made him among the highest-paid receivers in the league. These days, Johnson coaches another receiver who he says has similarities to the Lions' star -- at least in terms of his approach on a day-to-day basis: second-year wideout Luther Burden III . "St. Brown in Detroit, who I have a strong affinity for, he plays the game the same way," Johnson said during an interview with FOX32 . "I feel that from Luther. I know he wasn't a full-time starter for us a year ago, but the snaps that he did have, he's got that competitive edge and desire to be great." As Johnson noted, Burden was not a full-time starter for the Bears last season. He wasn't a full-time player at all. Burden started just five of his 15 games and only played 40% of the team's offensive snaps, working behind D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze and even Olamide Zaccheaus for most of the season. Still, he caught 47 passes for 652 yards as a second-round pick. He also finished third in the NFL in yards per route run among the 152 wide receivers who ran at least 100 routes, according to Tru Media. That type of efficiency on low volume is typically the kind of thing that leads to a dramatic increase in opportunity in the future, and it's clear that the Bears have big plans for Burden going forward, especially with their coach already comparing his work ethic to that of one of the game's best. When it comes to playing style and usage, there are some similarities between Burden and St. Brown, but they're certainly not identical players. For example, St. Brown (47%) was utilized in the slot more often than Burden (39%), despite the fact that Burden came into the league as primarily a slot receiver at Missouri. Still, just as he was in college, Burden was used primarily as a manufactured-touch player during his rookie season, with 32 of his 60 targets (53%) coming within five yards of the line of scrimmage. For St. Brown, that number was 69 of 172 targets (40%). St. Brown did more work in the intermediate area of the field (56.5% to 37%), while Burden got more downfield usage, with 6 of his 60 targets (10%) coming at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage, while the same was true of just 6 of St. Brown's 172 targeted passes (3.5%). To become the same type of impact player that St. Brown is, Burden will have to expand beyond the all-or-nothing type of usage he had last season. Being able to win and dominate on those intermediate routes is the key to unlocking NFL offenses, and especially an offense like Johnson's that specializes in getting players open in that 10-to-20-yard range. St. Brown is already among the best in the league at winning in that area of the field, and that's why he dominates annually. Burden has a lot of talent, but he also has to prove that he can do more than just catch-and-run on designed touches or burn defenses with deep shots as he did on occasion last year. The Bears clearly think he can. The rest of us are waiting with bated breath to find out if they're right
