Falcons’ Drake London still not recovered enough to practice

FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons wide receiver Drake London is still recovering from a left knee injury and will not practice Wednesday, coach Raheem Morris said.

London, the Falcons’ leading receiver, suffered a strained posterior cruciate ligament late in the loss to the Panthers on Nov. 23. He did not play Sunday against the Jets and is considered day-to-day for the game against the Seahawks, which is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“We’ll kind of check him out,” Morris said. “He’ll do some running stuff with our people on the side, but he won’t be doing practice.”

The Falcons have had to juggle players at wide receiver behind London all season long. Firing wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard after Week 3 hasn’t been followed by stability at the position.

Darnell Mooney has struggled this season, and Ray-Ray McCloud was released. They were the Nos. 2 and No. 3 receivers last season. Casey Washington, who was expected to take up the No. 2 role while Mooney was recovering from a broken collarbone, has dropped down the depth chart.

Also, wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, who was the No. 4 receiver last season, was a healthy inactive last week against the Jets.

Deven Thompkins, who’s been on the practice squad, was active against the Jets. Dylan Drummond and David Sills V have been receiving playing time.

“That’s always going to be the best player, and it’s going to be based on practice,” Morris said. “Right now, we’re at the position where we are out there practicing. We’ve had a bunch of full-speed practices the last couple of weeks. We’ve been able to see guys like D.T. really emerge and become a guy for us.”

Thompkins, who played at Utah State, had two catches for 23 yards and had a rush for 5 yards in the loss to the Jets. He’s a 5-foot-8 and 155-pound speedster who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds.

“He’s really provided a spark for us,” Morris said. “Those are the guys who are going to play, that provide those sparks and moments.”

QB runs: Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold does most of his damage from the pocket, but he did have a 24-yard scramble in their 23-20 win over Arizona on Sept. 25.

Morris was not pleased with Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor rushing for 44 yards and a key 10-yard touchdown run Sunday.

“We let the quarterback out the pocket just a little too much, about 44 yards of rushing,” Morris said. “But the guys are getting better, and they are a youthful group that is thriving in that area.”

Walker moved to first team: Rookie outside linebacker Jalon Walker moved ahead of Arnold Ebiketie on the first-team defense on the latest official depth chart released by the team.

“He’s been balling, man,” defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro said. “I’m so happy for his success. I see it at practice. I see how hard he works.”

Four-man rush: The Falcons have built their pass rush off heavy blitzing.

But the four-man rush is improving.

“It takes a lot of pride because it’s essentially four-on-five,” Orhorhoro said. “We try to draw it up to where at least two, two to three, get one-on-ones. When you get that drawn up and it’s executed the right way, then it’s up to us to win. We take pride in winning those (matchups).”

Inspiration from Motown: Orhorhoro, who played his high school football in suburban Detroit, believes the Falcons, like the Lions, can undergo a similar turnaround.

“I remember one season they’re like, one and 16, or something like that,” Orhorhoro said. (They were 0-16 in 2008). Then in the next few years, they went on to win the NFC, or whatever it was.”

The Lions went to the NFC title game after the 2023 season.

“I feel like me, personally, I live my life like everything happens for a reason,” Orhorhoro said. “So, I feel like this right now is happening for a reason. We don’t know that reason yet. It’s bigger than us. But, we’re just going to keep chipping away until something happens.”