Falcons do not plan to add wide receiver help

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

FLOWERY BRANCH -- Despite having two wide receivers injured, the Falcons do not plan to add any players at the position.

Rookie Kerry Meier is out for the season with an undisclosed knee injury. Veteran Michael Jenkins is out for four to six weeks as of Aug. 8 with an injured left shoulder.

Last season when Harry Douglas suffered a torn ACL early in training camp, the Falcons signed veterans Robert Ferguson and Marty Booker. Booker ended up making the team.

The Falcons opened camp with 11 wide receivers and are down to nine with two exhibition games to play.

"Michael is going to be back around the opening of the season," said Falcons coach Mike Smith after Saturday's morning practice. "We feel good about our guys. Harry [Douglas] is back. So I don't anticipate that we need to do anything in terms of our roster."

Meier, a promising fifth-round pick, was covering a kickoff with under 6:00 left in the fourth quarter of Thursday's game against New England.

He tried to plant his right leg in order to turn and run behind Michael Palmer, but he fell down, rolled over and was writhing in pain as he grabbed his knee. Later, he was able to walk to the sidelines.

"It's very tough for Kerry and for our football team," Smith said. "Kerry had a solid training camp."

He was on track to help on offense and special teams.

Physical meter

While Smith was not pleased that New England outhit the Falcons, he resisted the coaching temptation to make them come out in full pads and do some hitting.

The team practiced in shorts and helmets.

"We are not going to change our approach," Smith said. "If we didn't play as well as we wanted to in the preseason, you have to keep it in perspective."

The Patriots set the tone early in their opening drive. Tight end Alge Crumpler got a pancake block on Peterson to help spring Fred Taylor on his 28-yard touchdown run.

"I would say that it wasn't our best performance in terms of physicality," Smith said. "I think [that] observation is probably true, in terms of who was a more physical team. On Thursday night, they were the more physical team."

Weatherspoon to start?

Rookie linebacker Sean Weatherspoon has started the first two exhibition games, but Smith is not ready to declare him a regular-season starter.

Weatherspoon started for Mike Peterson at weakside linebacker against Kansas City and started for Stephen Nicholas at strongside against New England.

"He is definitely making rookie mistakes, but I've seen some very good plays by him as well," Smith said. "Over the next week to 10 days, we'll decide who our starters are going to be at the linebacker positions."

Lewis making a strong bid

The play of defensive tackle Trey Lewis was one of the bright spots for the Falcons against New England.

"Trey was very disruptive," Smith said. "He was very aggressive. He was knocking the line of scrimmage back."

Baker jumps again

Starting left tackle Sam Baker had an offside penalty for the second consecutive game.

It looks as if he's anticipating the count, when he should be able to hear the snap count because he is playing at home.

Last two-a-day

The Falcons held their last two-a-day practice of training camp.

A special-teams-only practice is scheduled for Sunday as the team will start getting into its regular-season routine.