FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Today's Early Bird Report includes an injury update from Dan Quinn as well as a look at several power rankings.
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The Falcons have not had good fortune with injuries thus far in 2018, but coach Dan Quinn did provide a bit of positive news regarding Takkarist McKinely and Derrick Shelby's injuries during his appearance on 92.9 The Game Wednesday morning.
"Takk and Derrick both left [the game]," Quinn told “The Morning Show with John and Hugh.” "We're going to treat both of them as day-to-day. As we go through parts of walkthroughs or not, 'what can they do?' That's kind of where we're at with those guys, we're just going to give them all the time they need to see if we can get them back and up for this weekend."
Atlanta has placed three players on injured reserve so far this season, including left guard Andy Levitre who went on IR Tuesday with a torn triceps.
Here are some other articles for Falcons fans to check out today:
AJC: Film review report card
After getting a chance to go back and watch the Falcons' 31-24 win against the Panthers, D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution put forth his weekly report card of each unit's performance. The highest-graded unit for the Falcons in the win was their pass offense, which earned an A from Ledbetter.
"The second pass attempt of the game went to Calvin Ridley as the Falcons were determined to get him more involved in the offense," Ledbetter writes. "He picked up a 9-yard gain on a simple out-route. The announcers said that offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian was making the offense more of his own this season and that he didn't have to run Kyle Shanahan's offense this season. Ryan moved the ball around to eight receivers. Ridley's touchdown reception was spectacular. The Falcons took those three deep shots – overthrown, underthrown and intercepted -- to Jones and that opened up things underneath for Ryan. He was 14-of-15 for 138 yards and a touchdown on passes that traveled less than 10 yards. Tight end Austin Hooper had a strong game. He made a nice outside cut to get away from Thompson on his touchdown catch in the second quarter."
Power rankings:
The Falcons haven't moved much in the power rankings over the past two weeks, but they remain inside of the top 10 in most rankings, including Matt Tabeek’s.
"The slight move down is due to leaps forward made by the Bucs and Chiefs, and all the injuries in Atlanta (add Andy Levitre to that mix). Still, the Falcons got themselves a gut-check win Sunday. With no Keanu Neal, no Deion Jones and no Devonta Freeman, there is no question this group is not as strong as it could be. But give Dan Quinn major props for leading his team to victory over a quality divisional opponent. Quinn has more than proved his mettle in this area. Look no further than Atlanta's return to the postseason last year after a devastating loss in Super Bowl LI. This past January, the Falcons throttled the Rams and nearly knocked off the eventual Super Bowl champs. They had another fine chance to do the latter in Week 1. Oh, well -- 1-1 is good for second place in the NFC South. (To the Bucs!)"
"Matt Ryan got back on track against the Panthers, and the Red Zone woes seemed to disappear. Can they keep it going against the Saints?"
"The Falcons made a big improvement in the red zone from Week 1 to Week 2. They were 4-for-4 scoring touchdowns inside the 20-yard line against the Panthers on Sunday, after they were 1-for-5 in Week 1 against the Eagles."
