Several Atlanta Falcons players may return from injury in time for the team’s upcoming game against the New England Patriots, according to head coach Raheem Morris.
Morris told reporters on Monday that all recently injured players are being evaluated daily during Week 9. The list includes safety Jessie Bates III (ankle), quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (knee), wide receiver Drake London (hip), defensive lineman Zach Harrison (knee), cornerback Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring), and edge rusher Jalon Walker (groin).
All of these players except Bates missed last Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins. Bates left that game in the fourth quarter due to an ankle injury.
“I got no more information than I had (postgame) other than I know it’s not a serious injury,” Morris said of Bates. “It’ll be one of those day-to-day things, so we’ll kind of be in wait-and-see mode.
“And realistically, that’s just about everybody else as well. Michael Penix. Drake London. Zach Harrison. All those guys will kind of be in wait-and-see mode, day-to-day mentality.
“But nobody cares about injuries, really. We don’t really talk about it. We just go to get ready to go.”
Walker and Bowman have missed multiple games, while Penix, London, and Harrison were only out last Sunday. Walker has been absent for two games and Bowman for three.
“Potentially getting Jalon back this week, along with Billy,” Morris said. “Like I said, all those guys, I mean, they’re just day-to-day. Other than the guys that are actually on the IR status, like a Divine (Deablo). But the other guys will all be kind of monitored throughout the week. Get to Wednesday, see what you look like in practice, Thursday, Friday. Get them all the way up to game day like we did last week.”
Penix, London and Harrison were listed as questionable until game day before being ruled inactive against Miami; Walker and Bowman were declared out earlier in the week.
Offensive lineman Storm Norton was designated to return from injured reserve last Wednesday after missing time with an ankle injury suffered before the season began.
“He’ll be another guy you can add to that kind of day-to-day (status),” Morris said. “Obviously, having the ability to potentially activate him, to see what he can give us, if he can give us anything, some competitive nature out there, and get a chance to go see him play a little bit this week as well.”
The Falcons are set to face New England at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
