Falcons center Todd McClure’s streak of 144 consecutive starts will come to an end Sunday.
He had surgery Aug. 29 and has been declared out of the game by Falcons coach Mike Smith. Second-year man Joe Hawley, a fourth-round pick out of UNLV, will start in his place.
Hawley will make all of the pass-protection calls, help the guards block and sometimes go out to block Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. If he makes a bad call in pass protection, quarterback Matt Ryan could be running for his life.
“I’m excited about it,” Hawley said. “I feel good. I feel like I know their defense pretty well.”
Hawley, who was heavily recruited by Wisconsin, Arizona, Utah State, Oregon and Colorado out of Anaheim, Calif., is being groomed to eventually take over for McClure.
Last season, Hawley received a lot of practice time with the first-string offense because the Falcons like to rest McClure, who’s in his 13th season in the NFL, during the week.
“I have a lot of experience with Matt and the rest of the guys,” Hawley said. “I’m studying them and know everything that they have in their playbook.”
Hawley said the game won’t be too big for him.
“I’m ready for this moment,” Hawley said. “I’ve been prepared well by the coaches, and Todd has helped me out a lot.”
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