Falcons running back Antone Smith, who scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, injured his hamstring on the play Friday night and was not expected to return to the action.
The Falcons are already thin at running back because Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman previously suffered hamstring injuries and were expected to miss two to four weeks.
With Freeman and Coleman out, Smith opened the game splitting the first-team snaps with Terron Ward, an impressive undrafted rookie from Oregon State.
Smith was the team’s leading rusher with 17 yards on eight carries before he suffered the injury.
“Tone did a terrific job over the last seven days,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “Hopefully, that one can come back quicker. We are anticipating seeing Devonta and Tevin getting back into the action. Hopefully, if they can progress through the week, we’ll have a better update later. They are working really hard. They are getting close.”
Freeman and Coleman dressed for the game and went through warm-ups.
“It was by design,” Quinn said. “It was part of their rehab… . there is a real proces of getting ready to perform and we wanted them to go through that.”
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