FLOWERY BRANCH—Falcons coach Mike Smith said the team signed veteran linebacker James Anderson on Thursday to add an experienced player to a young group.
Anderson is a ninth-year veteran with 117 games played and 69 starts. With Sean Weatherspoon on injured reserve, the five other Falcons linebackers on the roster are either rookies or second-year players.
“He’s an experienced guy, we just have to get him up to speed as fast as we possibly can,” Smith said on Friday.
Smith said it’s doubtful Anderson will play Sunday against the Browns.
The Titans released Anderson on Tuesday after he’d played in seven games for them this season. The Panthers drafted Anderson in the third round of the 2006 draft and he played seven seasons with them before starting 16 games for the Bears in 2013.
Anderson said it won’t take him long to get acclimated with the Falcons.
“If they want me to, I will be ready tomorrow,” Anderson said. “I just want to come in, learn their defense, learn how to do things around here and get in with the guys and earn some respect around here.”
