Falcons starting right cornerback Robert Alford turned up on the first injury report after the bye week with an ankle issue Wednesday. The Falcons play at the Redskins at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The durable cornerback has started 46 consecutive games. He hasn’t missed a game since Game 9 in November 2015. He didn’t practice Wednesday, one of the key game-plan days of the week.
The Falcons had to play rookie Isaiah Oliver against the Bengals and Steelers. Against the Bengals, they shuffled the secondary after Ricardo Allen’s Achilles injury and moved Desmond Trufant to nickel, Brian Poole to safety and Oliver to left corner.
When Trufant went out of the Pittsburgh with an injury, Oliver came in at left cornerback.
Oliver played strongly at times, but gave up key touchdown catches to A.J. Green and Antonio Brown.
“Everyone has to dominate their role, and Oliver and I have had that conversation,” Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel said.
Oliver played only four defensive snaps against the Giants after not seeing any defensive action against Tampa Bay.
Oliver was inactive for the first two games of the season before playing 12 defensive snaps against the Saints in Game 3.
With Trufant down, he started against the Bengals and played 63 of defensive snaps (83 percent). Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton found the rookie out of place on a touchdown pass to Green to win the game in the final seconds.
He played just 10 snaps against the Steelers, but quarterback Ben Roethlisberger connected with Brown on 9-yard touchdown pass with Oliver in coverage in the third quarter to take a 20-10 lead which touched off the 41-17 rout.
“He has to come in there and dominate his role is what we are asking him to do,” Manuel said. “Stay on top. Tackle and get the ball. Do everything that we are asking him to do.”
Oliver has four tackles and made two spectacular pass breakups. He clearly has NFL-level talent. He was drafted to replace Jalen Collins as a big cornerback.
Collins was released by the team after he repeatedly was suspended under the performance-enhancement drug policy.
“The cool part about it with these rookies is that they’ve played 11 games now,” Manuel said. “It is now their sophomore year. You have a lot of experiences that you have to be able to live off of. What’s the purpose of experience if you don’t learn.
“I think from that standpoint, he’s prepared to go out there and dominate his role.”
The Falcons are familiar with the Redskins’ best receivers in tight end Jordan Reed and wide receiver Paul Richardson. Manuel and Falcons coach Dan Quinn coached Reed at Florida, and Richardson previously played in Seattle, where Quinn and Manuel each coach previously.
Alford has started all seven games this season and has 20 tackles and six pass breakups.
When the Falcons played the Redskins on Oct. 11, 2015, Alford intercepted a pass and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown to pull out a 25-19 win in overtime.
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