Jason Snelling makes best of return

By John Delong

For the AJC

CHARLOTTE – Jason Snelling spent the first quarter watching Michael Turner run wild.

Then suddenly, it was his time to step up.

Snelling came on after Turner suffered a high ankle sprain in the second quarter and had to carry the load the rest of the way in the Falcons’ 28-19 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

He finished with 61 yards on 18 carries and scored the Falcons’ first touchdown.

“I had a job to do to go out there and make plays,” Snelling said. “We all have to step up. That’s the mentality we have on this team.”

Coach Mike Smith was pleased with the play of the third-year back from Virginia.

“I thought Jason came in and did a nice job of running,” Smith said. “We don’t have the explosiveness we had with Michael, but I thought Jason, for his first time back in a couple of weeks, ran the ball hard.”

Snelling had been inactive in the previous two games because of a hamstring injury. He had carried the ball just 19 times all season before Sunday, including 68 yards on seven carries in a loss at Dallas.

Turner had been unstoppable early, with a 40-yard run on the first series and four runs of 10 yards or more on the first three drives. He came limping out after a 10-yard burst up the middle to the Carolina 15 on the Falcons’ first drive of the second quarter, at which point he had 111 yards on nine carries.

Snelling took over and got his first touchdown of the season from 1 yard out six plays later, to cut Carolina’s lead to 14-10 at the time.

Snelling was then the only running back to carry the ball in the second half, with 14 carries for 55 yards.

“I try to prepare as well as I can for my role,” Snelling said. “That has happened a couple of times this year so I was ready. I felt good out there. I felt like I was prepared. I think I played well, but I think a couple of plays I left some yards on the field. But that’s part of the game.”

“When somebody goes down, somebody has to step up,” said fullback Ovie Mughelli. “That’s what Jason did today.”