FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons cornerback Jeff Okudah, who was out for five weeks with a foot injury, returned to practice Wednesday in a limited fashion.
“Everything went good,” Okudah said after practice. “First day back out there in about five or six weeks. It was just good to be out there with the guys for real.”
Okudah, whom the Falcons acquired in an offseason trade with Detroit, went down Aug. 4 after defending a pass intended for wide receiver Frank Darby. Okudah was carted off the practice field.
“Well, any time you get a good football player like Okudah back, it helps you out,” Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray said. “Our guys have been out there working, doing a good job, and when he went down, everybody else stepped up.”
Okudah had a strong offseason and was off to a good start in training camp.
“It was tough, just wanting to have a real strong camp and stack days,” Okudah said. “Be out there with the guys. Being out for a while was tough. The guys held it down. I’m glad to be back.”
Okudah was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 draft by the Lions. Coming out of Ohio State, Okudah was thought to be a “can’t miss” prospect with size (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) and speed (4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash).
A rash of injuries have short-circuited Okudah’s start in the NFL, with him missing major parts of his rookie season and nearly all of the 2021 season. In 2022, he started and played in 15 games.
He was elated this foot injury wasn’t as serious.
“Yeah, definitely, going down, having the cart come out (is) never a good feeling,” Okudah said. “But you know God saw me through. I’m just grateful to be (back) out there not too long after it happened.”
Okudah thought it may have been a more serious injury.
“So, first we went in there to Emory and did the whole X-ray and MRI process,” Okudah said. “Just doing the due diligence on it, as the reports came back in, the optimism continued to grow and grow. After that, we made a plan, and we just had to attack it. That has me here today.”
Okudah is looking forward to trying to establish himself in the NFL.
“Just a feeling of real gratitude,” Okudah said. “It could have went worse. Just when I heard that I’d have the opportunity to come back, at that point I just put my mind on attacking every single day of rehab and putting my best foot forward.”
Tre Flowers started for Okudah and made eight tackles in the 24-10 win over the Panthers on Sunday.
“It was really exciting,” Okudah said. “I’ve got a lot of love for the guys in the (defensive back meeting) room. So, when I saw them out there making those plays, it felt like I was playing through them. It just raised by level (of excitement) for this defense, for our secondary. It was a really fun moment.”
Okudah probably can’t make it back for the game Sunday, but he has experience playing against the Packers.
“We just have to eliminate explosive (plays),” Okudah said. “We have to play tough football, and we’ve got to tackle. We have to tackle well in space.”
Okudah tried to stay mentally sharp by attending all of the team meetings and asking questions of coach Arthur Smith, defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen and Gray.
“Coming back out here, I didn’t feel rusty from a mental aspect,” Okudah said.
Physically, he ran well, not hesitating while running backward and then making a cut.
“When you are out for this long, you just want to knock off the rust,” Okudah said. “That’s probably how I would describe what I’m dealing with right now.”
The Falcons plan to ease Okudah back in to the practice.
“When you come back, it’s a ramp-up period, which is expected,” Okudah said. “I would say it’s kind of like a feel thing. When you play defensive back, it’s a feel thing. When everything feels good, I think you get back into it pretty quickly.”
Okudah doesn’t know if he’ll be ready to face the Packers.
“The plan was to take it one day at a time,” Okudah said. “If we get to Sunday, if we don’t, we don’t. We just didn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
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