FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons placed safety Micah Abernathy on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday.
Abernathy sustained a knee injury during the first quarter of the Falcons’ Week 6 win against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. The injury happened during punt coverage after the Falcons' opening offensive possession. Abernathy was ruled out within five minutes of game play.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said in his post-game press conference Abernathy "didn't look great" and followed that up Monday with a similar but clearer statement.
"Obviously, the rough one coming out of the game with the severe injury," Morris said, "so we'll probably be missing him for a significant amount of time."
Abernathy played a large role on the Falcons' special teams through the first six games, taking 70% of their snaps before his injury. He took 92% in the Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, for example.
That's where Abernathy did most of his work for the Falcons in 2023, too. He took 82% of the special teams snaps and just 3% of the defensive snaps in the 12 games in which he appeared.
Abernathy made his NFL debut in 2022 for the Green Bay Packers, with whom he appeared in two games for 28% of the special teams snaps and just 1% of the defensive snaps.
Throughout his career so far, Abernathy has been a practice squad member who ultimately earns a spot on the active roster due to his special teams work.
The Falcons used the newly open 53-man roster spot to sign offensive lineman Matt Hennessy to the active roster. Hennessy hit his personal max of three practice squad elevations with last Sunday's game against the Panthers. The other two games were the Week 4 win against the New Orleans Saints and the Week 5 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Hennessy was a third-round draft pick for the Falcons in 2020 and played in 41 games, starting 22, between 2020-22. Despite the three practice squad elevations, he has not taken a live snap this season.
In addition to the active roster moves, the Falcons signed safety Dane Cruikshank and offensive lineman Coy Cronk to the practice squad.
All these transactions come before the Falcons host the Seattle Seahawks inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a 1 p.m. ET Sunday kickoff.
