Lamar Holmes will start at left tackle for the Falcons on Sunday, with Sam Baker out with an injury.
Holmes is set to switch from right tackle, and veteran Jeremy Trueblood will enter the lineup at that position. The Falcons signed Trueblood in the week before the season opener after Holmes struggled during exhibition games.
Holmes played left tackle at Southern Mississippi, practiced there for the Falcons as a rookie in 2012 and started the first two games at right tackle this season. Now he will protect quarterback Matt Ryan’s blind side for the first time.
He said he felt comfortable with the switch after a couple of days of practice and has benefited from playing 121 snaps at right tackle.
“What I’ve noticed is (opponents) play mind games to set you up to get you to do what they want,” Holmes said. “It goes for both sides: I’m trying to get them to guess what I’m trying to do. The more and more reps you get, the easier it becomes.”
Holmes, the Falcons’ third-round draft pick in 2012, played only seven offensive snaps as a rookie after he was slowed by a foot injury. He inherited the job at right tackle when Mike Johnson suffered a season-ending injury early in training camp.
Baker played on a balky knee against the Rams on Sunday and struggled, especially in pass protection. He also was listed on the report this week with a foot injury, which he presumably suffered during that game.
The Falcons listed four players as questionable to play against the Rams: cornerback Asante Samuel (thigh), defensive end Cliff Matthews (neck) and wide receivers Julio Jones (knee) and Roddy White (ankle).
Samuel missed the season opener at New Orleans and lasted seven plays against the Rams before leaving the game. He sat out practice Wednesday and Thursday before participating on a limited basis Friday.
Jones, Matthews and White all played against the Rams. White was limited to playing 54 percent of the offensive snaps, and Matthews left the game with his injury before later returning.
Defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux missed practice Friday for what the team said were reasons unrelated to injury.
Brothers to battle: Growing up as the two youngest of seven siblings, Peria and John Jerry formed an alliance. "We were never really battling each other because we were battling the other ones," Peria said.
As teammates at Ole Miss, Peria was a defensive tackle and John was an offensive tackle, so they never really had to tangle in practice.
Now there’s no way around it: Peria will start at defensive tackle for the Falcons and John at right guard for the Dolphins when the teams meet Sunday in South Florida.
Guards and tackles operate in close quarters and wrestle, pull, hand punch, and push one another on virtually every play. Peria said it will be “odd” going against his little brother, but that their family isn’t stressing about it.
“I don’t think they are going for nobody in this one,” he said. “They are just going to have fun.”
Etc.: The wife of Falcons defensive end Kroy Biermann, reality TV personality Kim Zolciak, posted a message to her Twitter account reporting that Biermann's Achilles surgery went well. … The Falcons worked out four linebackers Tuesday before signing three. They passed on Thomas Howard and signed Jamar Chaney and Omar Gaither to the active roster and added Chase Thomas to the practice squad.
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