FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons’ defense could receive a boost with the return of defensive starters Jonathan Babineaux and Stephen Nicholas for their NFC showdown with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night at the Georgia Dome.
Babineaux, Nicholas and running back Jason Snelling returned to practice Wednesday.
Babineaux, a defensive tackle, suffered a partially torn MCL in his left knee in the season opener against Chicago on Sept. 11. His presence has been missed. The defense has not recorded a sack in the three games that he has been out.
Nicholas, a linebacker, suffered a calf injury in practice Sept. 23 and has missed the past two games. He has seven tackles and one forced fumble.
“Big day in terms of both of those guys because I think they are ahead of schedule,” coach Mike Smith said. “We didn’t think they would be back this early. ... I want to caution that it’s their first day back and we’ll have to see how they respond to the wear and tear of a complete practice. We are really happy that they’ve gotten back quicker then we have anticipated.”
Snelling missed the Seattle game with a concussion. Safety William Moore (neck) and cornerback Christopher Owens (ankle) joined Snelling as limited participants. Smith said he expected all three to be upgraded Thursday.
Center Todd McClure (knee), wide receiver Roddy White (thigh), tight end Michael Palmer (left ankle) and Cliff Matthews (knee) did not practice Wednesday.
Lack of respect?
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently stated that some Falcons’ comments this offseason, following the playoff loss, were “borderline disrespectful.”
Roddy White was quoted as saying: “We were a better team than those guys. We went out there, and we didn’t perform at our highest level.”
Rodgers addressed the issue when asked by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during his conference call with reporters Wednesday.
“I don’t care to expand a whole lot on that,” Rodgers said. “I just think that some of the general comments that I heard that that game was kind of a fluke maybe. I would just say that I think you need to respect your opponents. We definitely respect the Falcons.
“We were fortunate enough to go down there and play a clean game. I just felt like that maybe the respect level, just as far as those comments were concerned, maybe weren’t there at times.”
Special-teams woes
The Falcons have struggled on special teams, both in the kicking and coverage areas, through four games this season. With rookie punter/kickoff man Matt Bosher, the Falcons are last in the NFL in punt average at 36.1 yards. They are 30th in net punt average at 31.4 yards, a function of the punt coverage. Bosher’s kickoff average of 65.3 yards is 18th in the league.
The return game also has struggled. The Falcons are 30th in the NFL on kickoff returns with a 20.9 yard average. They are 22nd in punt returns at an 8.6 yard average.
“This last game [a 30-28 win at Seattle] was a good indicator of where we are at,” special-teams coordinator Keith Armstrong said. “We go out against a good returner and we shut him down for 2 1/2 quarters, and then we proceed to let the flood gates open. We have to stop doing that. We’ve got to go shut people down.
“... I would say right now, we are an average unit. Our return game is not where it needs to be. Our coverage game is not where it needs to be. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
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