ON THE FALCONS BEAT
ON THE FALCONS BEAT

Falcons place Neal on injured reserve; sign a defensive end

Steven Means has played in 26 NFL games as a reserve
Falcons safety Keanu Neal sits on the ground after suffering a knee injury during the first half Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018, against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Credit: Mitchell Leff

Credit: Mitchell Leff

Falcons safety Keanu Neal sits on the ground after suffering a knee injury during the first half Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018, against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
By
Sept 10, 2018

In time for practice today, the Falcons signed defensive end Steven Means and placed strong safety Keanu Neal on injured reserve.

Neal suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against the Eagles and was loss for the season.

Means, 27, is 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds. He was drafted by Tampa Bay in the fifth-round of the 2013 draft after playing at Buffalo. He’s also been with the Ravens, Texans and Eagles.

He worked out of the Falcons on Saturday.

“He played at Philadelphia and that’s where we did our evaluation off of him,” Quinn said. “We wanted to see if we can add more pass rush.”

Quinn said the team plan to look at Means at outside linebacker and defensive end.

“I like the size and I like the length of the player,” Quinn said.

Defensive end Steven Means played for the Bills, Ravens, Texans and Eagles.

Credit: Mitchell Leff

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Credit: Mitchell Leff

About the Author

Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.

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