It appears that the Falcons will be at near full-strength for the season opener against the New Orleans Saints at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
“We’re going to be in pretty good shape,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said after practice on Monday. “We had good participation in practice today.”
Falcons safety Dezmen Southward, a rookie third-round pick, was cleared from the league’s concussion protocol program and returned to practice on Monday.
Also, starting right guard Jon Asamoah, who didn’t play the final exhibition game with an undisclosed injury was back at practice.
Defensive tackle Corey Peters (Achilles) has been targeting the season opener for his return. He has been cleared for practice, but has only one padded practice under his belt.
“We’re not set on what we are going to do with Corey,” Smith said. “Corey is going to have really his second padded practice on Wednesday. But he’s done everything that we’ve asked. We’ll make a determination after he’s had a really full work load this week.”
The team does not have to issue an official injury report until Wednesday.
