Weiner makes 3 OTs on IR

The Falcons announced that offensive tackle Todd Weiner was placed on injured reserve on Thursday after undergoing season-ending surgery on his left knee. Weiner had struggled with knee injuries for the majority of the season, suffering it first to his right knee in the Week 5 loss to the Tennessee Titans and underwent surgery. After missing the next three weeks, he returned two weeks ago against the Carolina Panthers, but injured the left knee a week later versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Weiner is the third offensive tackle to wind up on the injured reserve for the Falcons, all with left knee injuries. Wayne Gandy began the season as the starting left tackle, but was also injured against the Titans tearing his left ACL. Renardo Foster replaced him for the next two weeks, but also ended his season with a torn left ACL. Weiner started the first 5 games of the season at right tackle before his first knee injury. When he returned, he was switched to the left side.

Quinn Ojinnaka has started two games thus far at left tackle as a repalcement for Weiner, including last week's contest against the Indianapolis Colts. He is expected at least for now to continue in that role. If not him, Terrance Pennington may get a long look at the position as the Falcons try to build depth for next season. Pennington got his first action of the season last week against the Indianapolis Colts. He has Ojinnaka beat in overall experience. He started 9 games last season as a rookie at right tackle for the Buffalo Bills.

Falcons working on extending Boley

The AJC's Steve Wyche reports in his blog that the Falcons are currently begun talks to extend the contract of linebacker Michael Boley. Boley's contract expires at the end of the season and he is slated to become a restricted free agent in March. If a deal cannot be done by then, the Falcons are expected to tender him at a high level in order to gain compensation in case another team signs him. They will also be given the right of first refusal, which means that if another team attempts to sign him the Falcons will be given the chance to match their offer.

Wyche reports that the Falcons have not engaged in contract talks with two more impending free agents: safety Chris Crocker and linebacker Demorrio Williams. Both Crocker and Williams will be unrestricted free agents after this season.

Wyche also reports that the Falcons are not talking to cornerback DeAngelo Hall about an extension, likely due to the incidents between Hall and the current coaching staff. Hall will not become a free agent until after the 2008 season, so there is still time for the team. Hall has indicated in the past his desire to get the best possible deal.

You can find an updated list of the Falcons upcoming free agents for next year and future years at FalcFans.com.

Colts stuff Falcons on Thanksgiving

Despite a fast start, the Falcons eventually fell to the Indianapolis Colts 31-13 in their second ever Thanksgiving Day game. The Falcons got off to a quick 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but struggled in the second quarter as they were down 21-13 at the half.

Joey Harrington led the team passing for 155 yards while completing 14 of 30 attempts with a touchdown and two interceptions. On the ground, Warrick Dunn rushed for 70 yards on 17 carries (4.1 avg). Dunn became the 22nd NFL running back to surpass 10,000 career rushing yards as well on the day. Jerious Norwood added 33 yards on 6 carries (5.5 avg). Roddy White led receivers with 6 catches for 104 yards (17.3 avg) and the team’s only touchdown. Alge Crumpler added 3 grabs for 14 yards. The offense was able to maintain possession of the ball for over 11 minutes in the first quarter and converted 3 of 7 third down attempts. But for the rest of the game, they were unable to sustain drives and converted just 2 of 8 third down attempts.

Defensively, the Falcons had a strong start forcing the Colts potent offense to stall and punt on its first two drives. But poor field position and a porous pass defense hindered their success in the second quarter. Michael Boley led defenders with 9 tackles, including 3 sacks, and forced a fumble. Demorrio Williams (6 tackles), Keith Brooking (6 tackles, 1 sack), DeAngelo Hall (5 tackles, 1 interception), Chris Houston (4 tackles, 2 passes defended), Jamaal Anderson (4 tackles), and Chris Crocker (3 tackles, 2 passes defended) had noteworthy performances.

Morten Andersen connected on his two field goal tries of 34 and 30 yards in the first half. Michael Koenen had 4 punts averaging 50 yards and put 1 inside the Colts 20-yard line. Jerious Norwood returned 6 kickoffs for an average of 26.3 yards, while on punt returns Adam Jennings was forced to fair catch both his attempts.

The Falcons will travel to St. Louis next week to take on the Rams, hoping that the extra few days of rest will allow them some time to regroup and get another victory. The Falcons have won 2 of 3 games against the Rams since leaving the NFC West, including most recently a playoff victory in 2004. However, the Falcons have not won in St. Louis since 1998, losing four straight in that venue.

Harrington to start vs. Colts

The Falcons have made a short-term decision on who will be the starting quarterback at least for tomorrow night's matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Joey Harrington will replace an injured Byron Leftwich in the starting lineup. Leftwich is listed among several Falcons as doubtful the Thanksgiving Night matchup against the Colts. Leftwich suffered an injured tailbone in last week's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Head coach Bobby Petrino was noncommittal on whether Harrington or Leftwich would get the start afterwards during this week's press conference: "Since this is such a short week, we are worrying about the Indianapolis game right now. We’ll have a little break after that and we’ll see how everything goes.”

In other injury news, the Falcons listed tight end Dwayne Blakley (concussion), wide receiver Joe Horn (hamstring/foot), and offensive tackle Todd Weiner (knee) also as doubtful. Blakley is expected to be replaced by Courtney Anderson, a free agent pickup from a week ago. Rookie Laurent Robinson has filled in for Horn the past two weeks and will likely do again for a third consecutive week. Weiner was replaced by Quinn Ojinnaka at left tackle during last week's game when he went out with injury. Ojinnaka is expected to do so again, although there might be a chance that Terrance Pennington may be given some reps on Thursday at left tackle.

Also on the injury report was tight end Alge Crumpler who was listed as probable with a foot injury.

Coleman and Lewis go on IR

The Falcons were dealt a severe blow at defensive tackle on Tuesday when they placed both starters Rod Coleman and Trey Lewis on injured reserve. To improve depth, the Falcons signed defensive tackle Jesse Mahelona, promoted defensive end Kevin Huntley from the practice squad, and re-signed end Derrick Jones to the practice squad.

Both Coleman and Lewis suffered their injuries this past weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coleman injured his triceps and hand on his right arm, while Lewis suffered a severe right knee injury. Depth was already a concern at the position after the release of starter Grady Jackson three weeks ago. After Jackson's release, Lewis was promoted permanently as the starter at nose tackle. Coleman only returned from injury just five weeks ago.

Jonathan Babineaux and Montavious Stanley are expected to replace Coleman and Lewis, respectively. Babineaux started the first few games of the season in place of Coleman at the undertackle position. Stanley has gotten extensive playing time as the reserve nose tackle much of the season and now will be counted on to start. The team added free agent Tim Anderson a few weeks ago. He's been inactive thus far, but will likely be counted on to have a much bigger role in the ensuing games.

Mahelona was a fifth round pick of the Tennessee Titans a year ago. Last season as a reserve with the Titans, he recorded 11 tackles and 1 sacks in 10 games. He was released by the Titans after being inactive for Week 1 this season, and joined the Miami Dolphins in October. He was inactive for a single game before the Dolphins released him.

Huntley has been off and on the Falcons practice squad several teams thus far this year. He was originally signed on September 12 and then released on October 9. He was re-signed on October 29. Jones originally joined the team's practice squad on October 17, but was released two weeks ago.

Falcons stumble against Bucs

The Falcons looked inept for the most part as they were beaten 31-7 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home. The team falls to 3-7, ending their two game winning streak.

Byron Leftwich got the start after missing the past two games, but struggled as he completed 15 of 28 passes for 106 yards with 2 interceptions. He was replaced by Joey Harrington with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter, but he was not much of an improvement. Harrington completed 16 of 20 passes for 139 yards with a touchdown late to prevent the shutout. Warrick Dunn led rushers with 32 yards on 15 carries (2.1 avg) and also caught 8 passes for 40 yards. Michael Jenkins led receivers with 73 yards on 9 catches (8.1 avg). Adam Jennings caught the team's only score, which was a 7-yard score with little more than a minute to go in the game. He finished the game with 2 catches for 11 yards. Roddy White (4 catches for 28 yards) and Alge Crumpler (3 catches for 28 yards) also contributed. The Falcons offense under Leftwich was only able to convert 1 of 10 third down tries.

Defensively, the Falcons were not much better. They were fairly solid in the first half, only allowing 7 offensive points for the Bucs and the Bucs did not convert any of their 4 third down attempts. But could not hold them in the second half giving up 17 points and allowing the Bucs to convert 50% of their 6 third down tries. Keith Brooking led the team with 8 tackles and also added a fumble recovery. Michael Boley (7 tackles), Jonathan Babineaux (5 tackles), John Abraham (2 tackles, 1 sack), and Chris Houston (2 tackles, 1 forced fumble) had noteworthy games.

On special teams, the Falcons had seven points negated by a holding penalty on Stephen Nicholas after Jerious Norwood took a kickoff 87 yards. Norwood finished the game with 5 kickoffs for an average of 22 yards. On punt returns, Adam Jennings had 3 returns for 14 yards. Michael Koenen had 7 punts for an average of 36.7 yards with 4 being put inside the 20-yard line. The Falcons also had a season-high 11 penalties against them.

The Falcons will host the Indianapolis Colts (8-2) this upcoming Thursday on Thanksgiving Day. It marks the Falcons second Thanksgiving game. They defeated the Detroit Lions in 2005. The Colts have an all-time record of 1-0-1 on Thanksgiving, their last game coming in a 41-9 beating of the Lions in 2004.

Falcons make roster moves

One Falcon rookie will have his season begin, while another one will have his season end. The Falcons promoted running back Jason Snelling from the practice squad, and also placed tight end Martrez Milner on injured reserve. Snelling was the team's seventh round pick this past April, while Milner was selected in the fourth round. Snelling had spent the first ten weeks of the season on the team's practice squad after leading the team in rushing during the preseason. Milner had played primarily as a reserve, but had seen substantial playing time throughout the season due to injuries to Dwayne Blakley and Alge Crumpler. He finishes the season with 9 catches for 50 yards. To make room for Snelling, the team released linebacker Travis Williams. Replacing Milner will be tight end Courtney Anderson.

In four preseason games, Snelling had 41 carries for 174 yards (4.2 avg) and also caught 7 passes for 35 yards (5.0 avg). His preseason performance however was not enough to earn him a roster spot, as the team decided to go with a more experienced running back in Artose Pinner. Due to the recent injury to Jerious Norwood, and the struggles of Pinner as a situational runner, the team is expected to give Snelling a long look in short yardage situations.

Williams was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad a month ago. In three games he appeared in, he recorded 3 stops on special teams.

Anderson appeared in 2 games this season with the Detroit Lions. He was waived by the Miami Dolphins at the end of training camp, after being released by the Oakland Raiders at the end of July. He started 28 games for the Raiders over the past three seasons, catching 62 passes for 763 yards (12.3 avg) and 6 touchdowns. He was originally a 7th round pick out of San Jose State in 2004.

Crumpler helps Falcons to win

The Falcons have begun a winning streak, taking down the Carolina Panthers by a score of 20-13. The Falcons record moves to 3-6 and now they have won two straight since their bye week.

Joey Harrington led the Falcons, completing 19 of 26 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. Warrick Dunn rushed for 89 yards on 26 carries, including a 30-yard score in the first quarter to take an early lead for the team. Dunn also caught 3 passes for 51 yards. Roddy White led receivers with 6 catches for 57 yards. Alge Crumpler caught Harrington's lone touchdown pass, which was a 30-yard score with 20 seconds remaining in the game. Crumpler ended the day with 2 grabs for 39 yards. Crumpler had missed the two previous weeks with injury and was fairly quiet all game until that big play at the end.

Defensively, the Falcons held the Panthers to 243 total yards and shut out their offense. Carolina's lone touchdown came on a 27-yard return by cornerback Ken Lucas in the second quarter off a Laurent Robinson fumble. DeShaun Foster, who had averaged 180 yards per game in his past four bouts against the Falcons, was limited to only 59 yards rushing on 20 carries. Chris Houston led Falcon defenders with 8 tackles and broke up 2 passes. Lawyer Milloy (5 tackles, 1 hurry), Keith Brooking (4 tackles, 1 pass defended), Rod Coleman (3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble), DeAngelo Hall (5 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 2 passes defended), and Chris Crocker (3 tackles, 1 interception) had noteworthy games.

On special teams, Morten Andersen connected on both field goal attempts of 36 and 47 yards. Michael Koenen had 8 punts for an average of 48.1 yards with 2 put inside the 20-yard line. Adam Jennings returned 3 kickoffs for 67 yards (22.3 avg) and 5 punts for 34 yards (6.8 avg). Most of his punt return yards came on his last return. His 23-yard return put the ball in Carolina territory, which set up the game-winning score by Crumpler just four plays latter.

Next week the Falcons will return home to face fellow division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4) for the first time this season. The Falcons swept the Bucs last season in their two contests. But since the two teams have shared the NFC South, the Bucs lead the series having won 6 of 10 games, including 3 of 5 in Atlanta.

Charges dropped against Babineaux

Felony animal cruelty charges against Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux were dismissed on Wednesday according to an AJC report. The charges stemmed from the death of Babineaux's girlfriend's dog "Kilo" in February.

According to the AJC report, the charges were dropped after an extensive investigation could not come to a consensus among experts about the cause of death and how the injury occurred. An autopsy revealed that Kilo died of blunt-force trauma to the head, but whether that was inflicted by Babineaux could not be determined.

The dog had a history of unprovoked attacks and a dog trainer had informed Babineaux to spin the dog by its leash when it became aggressive. According to Babineaux's lawyer, the dog was acting aggressively towards Babineaux and his infant son, and Babineaux engaged in the spinning technique which resulted in the dog's death from it striking a wall.

Babineaux faced potential suspension from the NFL had he been indicted by a Gwinnett County grand jury.

Falcons nab second win

The rest and recuperation gained during the Falcons' bye week seemed to have benefited them as they prevailed over the San Francisco 49ers 20-16 to gain their second win of the 2007 season. The changes to the offensive line recently didn't seem to deter the teams ground attack either, as Warrick Dunn became the first 100-yard rusher for the Falcons of this season as well.

Joey Harrington completed 14 of 25 passes for 138 yards, with an interception. Dunn led rushers with 100 yards on 27 carries (3.7 avg) and a touchdown. Jerious Norwood was injured early on in the contest, and thus was limited to 6 carries, but managed 39 yards (6.5 avg). Ovie Mughelli scored the team's other touchdown on a 1-yard plunge. He finished the game with 2 carries for 2 yards. Joe Horn led receivers with 4 grabs for 23 yards (5.8 avg). Roddy White added 3 catches for 55 yards (18.3 avg) and Michael Jenkins had 2 catches for 31 yards (15.5 avg).

Defensively, the Falcons held firm limiting the 49ers to 265 total yards. They also forced four 49er turnovers, including 3 interceptions. The final interception by Jimmy Williams on a hail mary by Alex Smith sealed the team's second win. DeAngelo Hall's interception on the 49ers previous possession also was instrumental in getting the Falcons a victory. Michael Boley led defenders with 10 tackles, a pass deflection, and also caused a fumble. Keith Brooking (6 tackles, 1 sack), Lawyer Milloy (8 tackles, 1 interception), Chris Crocker (5 tackles, 3 pass deflections), DeAngelo Hall (4 tackles, 1 interception), and John Abraham (2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble) all had noteworthy performances.

On special teams, Morten Andersen connected on 2 field goal attempts of 33 and 27 yards in the fourth quarter. Michael Koenen had 6 punts for an average of 39.7 yards, with 2 placed inside the 20-yard line. Adam Jennings returned 2 punts for 23 yards, and 1 kickoff for 28 yards.

Next week the Falcons will travel to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons hope to exact some revenge on the Panthers, following a tough loss in Week 3 this season.

Crumpler doubtful vs. 49ers

The Falcons weekly injury report was updated today indicating that Falcons tight end Alge Crumpler is doubtful for this weekend's matchup against the San Francisco 49ers with knee and ankle injuries. Crumpler missed the Falcons Week 7 matchup against the New Orleans Saints due to the same injuries. It was the first time he missed any games due to injury in his entire career. In 2004, he sat out the final two games of the regular season so he could rest for the postseason. Crumpler has battled knee ailments all off-season long as he had surgery in April, and missed most of training camp due to the injury.

The only Falcon listed as out for this weekend's game is quarterback Byron Leftwich, who suffered a high ankle sprain against the Saints, and is expected to be out for at least another two weeks.

Also on the injury report were linebackers Stephen Nicholas (ankle), defensive tackle Montavious Stanley (knee), and offensive tackle Todd Weiner (knee). All three players were listed as questionable. Nicholas has missed the past two games with a high ankle sprain. Stanley suffered a knee injury in practice this past week. Weiner too has missed the last two games with a knee injury suffered against the Tennessee Titans. Both Nicholas and Weiner managed to have limited participation in practice all week long, which may mean both players could return next week.

Dwayne Blakley should get his second consecutive start in place of Crumpler, if he's unable to go. Joey Harrington will return to the starting lineup, subbing for Leftwich. Nicholas will continue to be replaced by linebacker Travis Williams as a reserve behind starter Demorrio Williams. Tyson Clabo has filled in for Weiner the past two games at right tackle. And the Falcons signed Tim Anderson yesterday to bolster depth behind Trey Lewis in place of Stanley.

Falcons add DT Anderson

Due to the recent knee injury to backup nose tackle Montavious Stanley, the Falcons signed free agent defensive tackle Tim Anderson. To make room for Anderson, the Falcons released cornerback Brent Grimes, who was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster on Monday. Stanley's injury is ironic considering the Falcons released starting defensive tackle Grady Jackson last week. The team reasoned that Jackson's release was necessary due to the improved health of defensive tackles Rod Coleman and Jonathan Babineaux in recent weeks. Jackson signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars this week.

Anderson appeared in 4 games with the Buffalo Bills this year before being released on October 20. He recorded 3 tackles in his time in Buffalo. He was originally a third round pick out of Ohio State in 2004. In 2005, he was the Bills' regular starter, making 12 starts and finishing the season with 42 tackles and 1 sack. Last season, he lost his starting job to Kyle Williams, but still managed 5 starts and 32 tackles on the year. Reports this spring had the Bills putting Anderson, who was a restricted free agent, on the trading block.

Grimes spot on the practice squad was taken by defensive end Kevin Huntley. Huntley was re-signed after spending 4 weeks on the practice squad earlier in the regular season. It is unknown if the Falcons will release Huntley for a second time to make room for Grimes. The Falcons have yet to specify how long they expect Stanley to be out of commission.