Coach Dan Quinn hopes to have wide receiver Julio Jones (hip flexor), defensive end Vic Beasley (hamstring strain) and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu (hamstring strain) back after the bye week when the Falcons face the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 15 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Defensive tackle Jack Crawford’s bicep injury is more serious and has the team discussing whether to sign a free agent.
Jones, Sanu and Crawford, all injured in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, were to have MRI exams on Monday.
The Falcons are hoping for good news on other injury fronts.
“Beasley, (Terron) Ward (neck/shoulder) and (Courtney) Upshaw (ankle) are all making progress so we’re hopeful to see where they go for next week,” Quinn said.
Ward and Upshaw have previously missed games before sitting out against the Bills. Also safety Keanu Neal suffered a dislocated finger and missed two plays against the Bills. The team didn’t announce the injury during the game.
“You never hope for a bye, but if there was a time that it would come through, now would be a good time,” Quinn said.
He was reluctant to put a timetable on the return of Jones, Sanu and Beasley. While Quinn is calling Beasley week-to-week, it now is clear that he suffered at least a four-week injury.
Quinn said doesn’t like to release injury timelines because players heal differently.
“The good news is that both of them aren’t going to be long-term,” Quinn said of Jones and Sanu. “Both of them, the competitiveness to get going is going to be there. We’re hopeful that (since) it’s (been) two or three weeks for Beasley that he’ll be back in the next week’s time.
“Until we really see him open up as a runner we don’t know.”
Quinn said that he and general manager Thomas Dimitroff will discuss adding some help along the defensive line, likely to replace Crawford.
Players spoke about how tough it was going to be with Crawford out on Monday.
“We have to see where Courtney’s at because that’s such an important part of how we play,” Quinn said. “We like to rotate players and put them into unique spots.”
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