FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons running back Damien Williams (rib injury) did not practice on Wednesday according to the Falcons’ official injury.
Williams suffered an injury early in the 27-26 loss to the Saints on Sunday. He finished with 2 yards on two carries. He was the lone player on the injury report.
He had a 300-pounder on his back and fell on the football.
“An ugly sight,” Williams said Monday. “It’s a part of the game. You have to take the bruises. Get up and shake it off.”
He went back in briefly to try to give Cordarrelle Patterson a break. Patterson had 22 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown.
Williams hopes to be ready for the Rams’ game Sunday.
“Of course, right now, I’m a little sore,” Williams said. “We are going to go through the week and see how I feel and try to keep it running.”
Williams was impressed with the overall rushing performance. The Falcons ran 38 times for 201 yards against the Saints.
“That’s exactly what the vision was,” Williams said. “CP went out there and gave everybody a great view of what it is going to look like for the rest of the season.”
The Saints gave up only 93.5 yards rushing per game last season, which ranked fourth in the NFL.
“Of course, especially against a great team,” Williams said. “They are always top five in rushing defense. What we did I think hasn’t been done to them in five or six years. We are establishing something right now.”
Williams has injured his ribs before.
“That wasn’t the first time that happened,” Williams said. “It happened to me a couple of years ago. Like I said, it comes with the game. You take it. Get through the treatments and get back out there.”
Williams was down on the field writhing in pain after the play.
“You ever had a time when you couldn’t breathe,” Williams said. “I was trying to find it. In that moment, and then you have your pads and everything squeezing on you. When the trainers came out there, I was like, get me up now.”
Williams was not worried about whether his ribs were broken.
“Nah, I didn’t think I broke anything,” Williams said. “You can tell the difference. I’ve done that when I was a little kid. You know the difference. You hear it.”
Williams was impressed with the play of the offensive line.
“I’m just excited to get behind those guys,” Williams said. “That was on my second carry. I couldn’t really catch the flow. I was just excited to see what we put on film. They’ve been doing this all camp. I know what they can do. In a real game, live action, it looked great going for 200 as a whole offense.”
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The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 NFL schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18 at Los Angeles Rams, 4:05 p.m.
Sept. 25 at Seattle, 4:25 p.m.
Oct. 2 vs. Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Oct. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Oct. 16 vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.
Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
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