Wide receiver Harry Douglas made the team's trip to London this week in hopes that he'll play, but the week is starting out like the past four with him being held out of practice Wednesday.
Head coach Mike Smith said before Wednesday's session that Douglas and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux would not participate in the day's practice, marking the 10th straight practice Douglas has been held out of as he recovers from a foot injury suffered in Week 3.
Smith said that Douglas would do a rehab run on the side with the team's Athletic Performance department while the Falcons practiced and that they'll continue to monitor him throughout the week.
"We'll see how he gets through (the rehab run) and then we'll make a determination if we can get him out and participating in practice," Smith said.
The Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders traveled outside London on Tuesday night to perform on the soccer pitch at Molineux
Douglas' teammates are eager for him to return. A key piece to the Falcons' offensive weaponry, Douglas' presence helps create matchup issues with the Falcons' top two receivers, Roddy White and Julio Jones, on the outside and with Devin Hester as a do-it-all type of player in the passing game. And the Falcons haven't been the same without him, currently on a four-game losing streak with the offense struggling to find consistency.
When Douglas is on the field, defenses have to change the way they defend the Falcons' passing attack and can't key up on the top two wideouts as much.
"Harry usually gets a linebacker on him. Everyone underestimates Harry," Jones said Wednesday. "He always gets matched up on the third corner, a safety, a linebacker and he's going to beat that guy every time. We're missing him on third downs, second downs — just with matchups. When we get him back, it'll be a big part of our offense."
