Falcons safety Dez Southward (knee) to miss a week

Falcons rookie safety Dezmen Southward suffered a knee injury and will miss a week of practice, coach Mike Smith said Thursday.

“He has a knee injury but it’s nothing serious,” Smith said. “He’s just going to be out about a week and (then) we anticipate he will be ready to go.”

The Falcons selected Southward in the third round of the draft out of Wisconsin. He has practiced as the second-team free safety behind free-agent signing Dwight Lowery.