The Falcons were without starters Austin Hooper and Devonta Freeman during their 29-3 victory against the Panthers, and it's possible their respective injuries will force them to miss Atlanta's upcoming game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn explained that Hooper, who has a knee injury, and Freeman, who has a foot injury, are "trending in the right direction," but he also said it was unlikely they would be ready to practice on Wednesday. Atlanta will monitor the two players throughout the week, so a concrete decision might not come until Friday at the earliest and Sunday at the latest.
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"We'll see where we're at as we go through the week," Quinn said of his two players. "Both of them are definitely trending in the right way, but we'll take both of them all the way until the end [of the week] to go. If they're able to participate some on Thursday and Friday, then that would be a good sign. If they're not able to, then I would [play them] without two weeks of practice. Unlikely Wednesday, but we'll see what Thursday and Friday looks like. They're definitely trending on the way up."
Defensive end Takk McKinley also sustained a shoulder injury against the Panthers that forced him to leave the game, but he eventually returned to finish the game. Quinn viewed McKinley's ability to finish the game as a good sign for his availability moving forward and explained that he wouldn't have to have his shoulder looked at.
"That helped a lot, knowing that he came back to finish," Quinn said. "We're hopeful that he'll make good progress throughout the week as well, but when you finish, that's a good sign that you'll be able to get going for the next week."
Quinn also provided a slight update on rookie offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom, who has been on injured reserve since injuring his foot in Week 1 against the Vikings. Lindstrom has yet to begin practicing and has not been activated off of IR yet. The injury that Lindstrom sustained has taken longer to heal than the league's mandatory eight-game minimum that a player has to sit out once going on IR.
"We have not activated him yet, but he'll have another follow up that will take place soon," Quinn said. "He's hitting all of the markers that we've asked him to hit, but his injury was longer than the timeframe that allows."
