Falcons rule out 4 players vs. 49ers, including Deablo, Brian Robinson Jr.
FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons will be down four players for their Week 7 bout with the 49ers at 1 p.m. Sunday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The team ruled out starting linebacker Divine Deablo (forearm), nickel corner Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring), running back Brian Robinson Jr. (hamstring) and offensive tackle Michael Jerrell (bicep) on their game availability report.
The Falcons also have a 10-man list of questionables, including cornerbacks C.J. Henderson and Avieon Terrell, defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr., outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Samson Ebukam, receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and linebacker Kendal Daniels.
Three players currently on injured reserve — cornerback A.J. Terrell, receiver Beaux Collins and offensive tackle Cameron Williams — are also questionable and must first be activated to the 53-man roster before the game.
Henderson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday he plans to play. He was a full participant Friday, as were Collins, Daniels, Smith and A.J. Terrell. Dexter, Ebukam, Avieon Terrell, Williams and Zaccheaus were all limited.
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said A.J. Terrell, the team’s top corner who’s missed the past four games with a groin injury, has looked “better” this week at practice.
“He’s worked very hard throughout the time he’s been out,” Stefanski said. “We’ll see how it goes over the next 48 hours with A.J. and a bunch of guys, but I thought he’s looked better.”
Deablo, who suffered his injury in the first half of the Falcons’ Week 6 loss to the Bears, is a team captain who wears the green dot and communicates play-calls from defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to the rest of the defense.
Ulbrich said Thursday he’s completely comfortable handing the responsibility to rookie Kendal Daniels, who wore the green dot at various points during training camp, the preseason and select drives in the regular season. Daniels has been the primary communicator during practice this week, too.
“I think he’s proven to be one of the better communicators I’ve been around for a young player, for any player for that matter,” Ulbrich said. “He takes a lot of pride in getting everybody on the same page, takes a lot of pride in getting us in the right defense, making the right checks.
“Hearing him (Wednesday), it was just really cool. Even the pre-snap stuff, just alerting everyone to some of the indicators that we had already had. So, I’m excited for him to have this opportunity. I really am.”
The Falcons have moved outside corner Mike Hughes to nickel during individual drills, and Hughes told the AJC he expects to play “a little bit” of snaps in the slot Sunday with Bowman inactive.
Stefanski said the team will promote running back Khalil Herbert from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday’s game. Herbert will be the backup to Bijan Robinson.