Lofton will test sore hamstring

By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Flowery Branch — Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton has begun to recover from a hamstring injury.

“[The] hamstring is good,” Lofton said. “I’m going to start some light running this afternoon. I hope to get back to practice pretty soon, but I don’t want to rush anything.”

Falcons coach Mike Smith said that Lofton is “day to day.” Lofton, who started as a rookie last season, has missed the past three practices.

“It was the last play a couple of days ago,” Lofton said. “I was sprinting, and I made the play. I tried to burst through and just pulled up a little bit. It’s not too serious though.”

Safety Antoine Harris, who had offseason groin surgery, returned to practice.

“We wanted to bring him back and see how he moved around,” Smith said. “He moved around well. He competed fully in practice today.”

Other injured players include cornerback Tony Tiller (ankle), defensive tackle Thomas Johnson (foot) and defensive end Willie Evans (back).

Winborn on board

SEC fans are likely familiar with the newest Falcon — linebacker Jamie Winborn.

He’s sort of a rarity — a longtime NFL player from Vanderbilt. On the eve of training camp, the Falcons signed Winborn and released linebacker Rashad Bobino.

Winborn was signed to help fortify the team’s linebacking corps, where they are trying to replace two starters. He has played all three linebacker positions, but started at strongside for Denver last season and started 13 of 30 games over the past two seasons for the Broncos.

“It’s just really an opportunity to compete and maybe play on special teams,” Winborn said. “We really haven’t gotten into what I’d be doing as far as playing or anything like that. I’m really not concerned about that right now.”

Winborn, a nine-year veteran, has also played for San Francisco, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay.

Inside practice

● The Falcons worked on their red-zone offense Tuesday morning. In the afternoon, the special-teams units worked out. “This week is all about situational football,” Smith said. “We’ve got to expose our guys to every situation possible. As the week goes on, we’ll do goal line, short yardage and backed-up offense.”

● After four straight days of two-a-day practices, the Falcons will practice just once on Wednesday.

-- Staff writer Chris Vivlamore contributed to this report.