Falcons injury report: Hennessy to start at center if Mack can’t play

Because of inclement weather, the Falcons moved their practices indoors Thursday.

Wide receiver Julio Jones (hamstring), center Alex Mack (concussion), cornerback Darqueze Dennard (quad) and James Carpenter (groin) did not practice for the second consecutive day. The team will hold a virtual practice Christmas Day and then a “mixture” walk-through/practice Saturday.

If Mack can’t make it out of the NFL’s concussion protocol, rookie Matt Hennessy would start at center Sunday at Kansas City.

“Like we talked about a couple of weeks ago with Matt Hennessy being the heir apparent to Alex Mack,” Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris said. “If Alex Mack is not able to go, obviously he’d be the guy thrust in that position, given a high workload and accountability for our team. He’s the guy for the job.”

Hennessy was playing at left guard early in the season, but after Morris took over, the Falcons went with Carpenter and then Justin McCray at that position.

“He’s prepared for that all season, and we feel very comfortable putting him out there seeing what Alex Mack is going to look like and what’s going to happen,” Morris said. “Obviously, went through the concussion protocol pretty late, so unfortunately, we’ll get a better feel for that throughout the week.”

Also, Morris expects free safety Ricardo Allen, who’s in the final stages of the concussion protocol, to be available when the Falcons (4-10) play the Chiefs (13-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

Here’s the full injury report:

Thursday, Dec. 24

Full Participation

• No. 33 CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson (illness)
• No. 37 S Ricardo Allen (concussion)
• No. 55 DE Steven Means (hand)
• No. 87 TE Jaeden Graham (neck)
• No. 91 DE Jacob Tuioti-Mariner (elbow)

Limited Participation