FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons center/guard Matt Hennessy will have his 21-day activation period for his return from injury reserve started.
“We started his clock; we’ll see how that goes,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said Monday.
Hennessy was the starting center last season. He lost his job to Drew Dalman. He started at left guard against the Chargers on Nov. 6 and suffered a knee injury. He was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 8.
Jalen Mayfield, who was the starting left guard last season, will not play this season. Mayfield, a third-round pick in 2021, started the season on injured reserve. His 21-day activation period lapsed over the bye week.
The Falcons are hoping to get back defensive tackle Jalen Dalton (toe), outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie (left arm/wrist) and left guard Elijah Wilkinson (knee) as they prepare to play the Saints on Sunday.
“The guys that we are anticipating back made good progress over the bye, Jalen Dalton, Arnold Ebiketie, we feel good about Elijah,” Smith said. “We’ll see how the rest of the week goes for Elijah. ... The only one that we’ll have to see (about) as the week goes is Chuma Edoga (knee). We’ll evaluate that (over) the rest of the week. A lot of those guys coming off the bye are in a pretty good spot. Coming at a good time for us, especially up front.”
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Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT
Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17
Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15
Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24
Nov. 27 Commanders 19, Falcons 13
Dec. 4 Steelers 19, Falcons 16
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
