Falcons’ Milloy feeling effects of Carolina loss

Flowery Branch — Lawyer Milloy is considered a day-to-day decision for Sunday’s game at Green Bay. The Falcons safety missed some action against Carolina after taking a knee to his rib cage.

“He was very sore today,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said Monday. “We anticipated that he would be. But he’s a very tough guy. He’ll be day to day.”

Jamaal Fudge, whom the Falcons claimed off waivers from Jacksonville on Sept. 2, took Milloy’s place against the Panthers. He played about three plays then kept a close eye on Milloy.

“When I saw that he went down, I put on my helmet,” Fudge said. “(Secondary coach) Al (Reynolds) told me to get in there. Unfortunately they scored a touchdown.”

Milloy was in obvious pain throughout the rest of the game. He was out of the locker room late to start the second half and Fudge played.

“I just kind of had my eye on Lawyer the whole game to make sure if he went down again, I’d be ready to step up in there,” Fudge said.

Milloy was the only player to suffer an injury in the Carolina game.

The Falcons are hoping to get left tackle Sam Baker (concussion/illness) and wide receiver Laurent Robinson (strained left knee) back for the Green Bay game.

“We’re still day to day with the guys that were injured last week that did not play in Sam Baker and Laurent Robinson,” Smith said. “I think we’ll know a whole lot more after we get Sam out there on Wednesday and see what he can do. Laurent is moving around a lot better. He had a lot more pep in his step today.”

Red zone, third down woes

Against Carolina, Smith cited two penalties in the red zone that hurt the offense’s chances and ended with the Falcons settling for field goals.

In the first quarter on a second-and-3 from Carolina’s 13-yard line, tight end Justin Peelle had a false start to push them back to the 18. After a 3-yard run and an incomplete pass, Jason Elam kicked a 33-yard field goal.

In the second quarter on a third-and 1 from the 21, Jerious Norwood had a 10-yard run wiped out by a Harvey Dahl holding penalty.

After film review, Smith said the Falcons had six dropped passes and that three of them occurred on third down.

The Falcons converted just 2-of-13 third down opportunities.

Slippery track

Running back Michael Turner had to switch shoes at halftime against Carolina because of the slippery surface at Bank of America Stadium. Several Falcons slipped while trying to make cuts.

“It was a little slippery out there,” Turner said. “We don’t expect that from grass when it’s low like that. We just had to change our footing. I switched to screw-ins. I had on the molded cleats at first.”

Nicholas lauded

Linebacker Stephen Nicholas had another good game on special teams against Carolina with two tackles.

“Stephen has had two weeks of outstanding special teams play,” Smith said. “The previous week against Kansas City he had three special teams tackles and he was very disruptive in our coverage units yesterday.”

Return to Lambeau

The Falcons are making their first trip to Green Bay’s historic Lambeau Field since the 27-7 playoff victory on Jan. 4, 2003. The game was the Packers’ first postseason loss at Lambeau.

Long snapper Michael Schneck, who was linebacker in high school at Whitefish Bay High in Milwaukee before playing at Wisconsin, needs 22 tickets for the game.