Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan told running back Todd Gurley multiple times not to score on a late handoff as the offense tried to run out the clock against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Footage from Inside the NFL shows Ryan in the huddle instructing Gurley to get the first down and then slide before reaching the end zone as the running back nods his head in agreement.

At that point, the Falcons trailed 16-14 with just over a minute left. The club needed to simply run the clock down and kick a field goal when Gurley broke the plane of the end zone on a 10-yard run. A two-point conversion gave Atlanta a 22-16 lead but also gave the ball back to the Lions.

Detroit used the next 1:04 of game time to run eight plays and march 75 yards downfield where tight end T.J. Hockenson cashed in on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford. Matt Prater's point-after attempt sealed the 23-22 victory for Detroit with no time remaining.

It was an epic gaffe from the veteran Gurley, who tried to slow his momentum before reaching the goal line but couldn't stop himself from scoring. Instead of picking up their second win of the season, Atlanta dropped to 1-6 with the loss as Detroit moved to 3-3 on the year.

The Atlanta Falcons have engaged in trade discussions centered around defensive end Takkarist McKinley, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

"Other teams believe the former first-round pick gets moved before Tuesday’s deadline, though no deal is imminent, per sources," Pelissero wrote Wednesday.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler also reported Atlanta is planning to hold McKinley, who's dealing with a groin injury, out of Thursday's game against the Carolina Panthers with an eye toward a possible trade.

Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich told reporters he hadn't heard anything on the matter:

McKinley has eight tackles and one sack through four games this year.

The Falcons selected him with the 26th overall pick in the 2017 draft. He was supposed to help a defensive line that ranked 24th in adjusted sack rate the season before, per Football Outsiders.

In what's often a telltale sign regarding a player's performance, the team declined his fifth-year option for the 2021 season. He has posted 17.5 sacks in 49 career games.

"You can only control what you can control," McKinley said in August, per ESPN's Vaughn McClure. "I can't talk to TD [general manager Thomas Dimitroff] and beg him, 'Hey man, accept my fifth-year option.' I can't do that. That's up to them. ... Whatever I showed in the [three] years, they decided to decline my option, which is cool. I still got another year here, still got another year to prove myself."

The aforementioned groin injury has prevented him from bolstering his value ahead of free agency.

The Falcons are 1-6, so they'll presumably want to cash in on their most logical trade assets, and McKinley would qualify. He probably wouldn't net a lot of value, but flipping him for a mid-round pick is at least something for a player who doesn't appear to be in the franchise's long-term plans.

The absence of a financial commitment beyond 2020 could also incentivize trade suitors to acquire him in the hope he has a big second half of the season.     

Atlanta Falcons tight end Hayden Hurst had his team-issued iPad stolen from his car on Sunday evening following the team's 23-22 loss to the Detroit Lions, per TMZ Sports, along with headphones and a notebook. 

Hurst shared a picture on Twitter of his smashed-out window Sunday:

Per that report, "Hurst—who had parked his 2020 Chevrolet SUV at his sister's house—said they had security cam footage of the incident... and cops say the video captured everything. According to the docs, cops say the footage showed a man walking up and down the street before approaching Hurst's vehicle and smashing out the window and taking the bag."

Police reportedly retrieved fingerprints from the vehicle and are investigating the incident. 

Hurst, 27, is in his first season in Atlanta after he was traded to the team this offseason from the Baltimore Ravens. In what has otherwise been a rough season for the 1-6 Falcons—which has included a number of blown leads and dramatic late-game losses—Hurst has been solid, registering 25 catches for 295 yards and three touchdowns. 

Matt Ryan's long-term future as the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback is no longer secure, but he's making it clear he wants to stick around the only NFL home he's ever known. 

"I don't worry about noise outside of our building. ... I want to be here and hopefully that will be the case," Ryan told reporters Monday.

The overwhelming odds are that Ryan will be the Falcons' starter through at least the 2021 season. Releasing or trading the 2016 NFL MVP would result in a $49.9 million dead cap charge—an exorbitant sum made even more jarring by the likelihood the cap will go down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank told reporters Ryan's future will be determined by the team's next general manager:

"I love Matt, much like I love Dan, I love Thomas. Matt's been a franchise leader for us, great quarterback; one of the leading quarterbacks in the last 13 years in the NFL. I hope he's going to be part of our plans going forward. But that will be a decision that I won't make.

"Matt has the ability to play at a very high level, even at this age. Whether that's going to continue or not, I'm not sure. I appreciate his willingness to consider doing that and the level at what he's played for us for 13 years, which has been incredible. So we'll have to see. But then again, that's going to be a decision, at the end of the day, that part of it will be up to the player; part of it will be up to the coaching staff. And whether or not Matt can keep himself together. God willing, he'll be able to do that and play at the level that he's capable of playing at."

While not an MVP-caliber player, Ryan is still a capable NFL starter. He leads the NFL with 2,181 passing yards and 12 touchdowns against three interceptions. There are several reasons the Falcons are a dismal 1-6, but Ryan is nowhere near the top of that list.

It's likely the next regime will want to build around someone younger than the 35-year-old Ryan, but he'd have value for a team looking to get over the postseason hump. Any deal will probably just have to wait until after the 2021 season. 

The Atlanta Falcons are 1-6 following a stunning 23-22 loss to the Detroit Lions, and it would be fair to wonder at this point if veteran wide receiver Julio Jones wanted out prior to the Nov. 3 trade deadline.

He put that to rest Sunday.

"No," he said when asked if he wanted to be traded, per Falcons writer Kelsey Conway. "I play football. I know who I am, I know what I got going on. I know what I mean to this team."

Jones is a seven-time Pro Bowler who has been with the Falcons his entire career, but he has a potential out on his contract for 2023 and could net the team some valuable assets to facilitate a rebuild if he was traded to a contender in need of pass-catchers.

Conway explained there have been reports suggesting the Falcons could explore moving some of their veterans, but Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay did not seem eager to do that during an interview with the NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano.

"We have a good football team," McKay said. "We have a lot of good football players, some of which are very good football players. Don't look for us to be trading those football players, we won't be calling teams about that. Do we anticipate anything? We really don't. It's not our mindset, our mindset is to try win football games. To win them this year and next year." 

It would be understandable if Jones was frustrated with the situation since he has never won a ring despite coming so close when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

This year has been a clinic in blown leads for the Falcons, who lost a 15-point advantage to the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter and a 16-point advantage to the Chicago Bears earlier this season.

Sunday was another heartbreaking loss, as the Falcons were in position to run out the clock and kick a game-winning field goal when Todd Gurley scored a touchdown instead of going down. That gave the Lions one more chance, and Matthew Stafford took advantage by driving his team down the field and finding T.J. Hockenson for a touchdown as time expired.

The ensuing Matt Prater extra point gave the Lions the win.

Despite all of that, it doesn't sound like Jones wants to go anywhere.

The Atlanta Falcons were in position to run out the clock in Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions and kick a chip-shot field goal to win it, but Todd Gurley scored a touchdown instead of going down before the goal line.

That gave the Lions one more opportunity, and Matthew Stafford found T.J. Hockenson for a touchdown as time expired. The ensuing Matt Prater extra point gave the Lions the 23-22 win.

"I was mad as hell," Gurley said of his touchdown, per Tori McElhaney of The Athletic. "I was trying not to; my momentum took me in."    

It was clear Gurley did not want to go into the end zone, as he seemed to be walking on a tight rope as he approached the goal line before breaking the plane.

It should be noted the Falcons still would have won the game if their defense didn't allow Stafford to direct an eight-play, 75-yard drive in just one minute and four seconds to give the Lions the win.

Detroit is now very much alive in the NFC playoff race at 3-3, while Atlanta is 1-6 following yet another stunning loss.

This is the same Falcons team that blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Dallas Cowboys in a game that featured an improbable onside kick and a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to the Chicago Bears.

It isn't difficult to envision the Falcons in the middle of the playoff race instead, but their inability to finish games has been a serious problem all season.

This was just the latest stunning defeat in a year that is already filled with them.

The Atlanta Falcons have NFL insiders wondering if quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones will be "shopped" ahead of the Nov. 3 trade deadline, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano.

The duo reported Tuesday the Falcons could be heading toward a "near-complete teardown," with Ryan and Jones among the high-profile names to hit the trade block in such an instance.

Atlanta is 1-5 after posting a 7-9 record in each of the past two seasons.

The Falcons scored a 40-23 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in their first game under interim head coach Raheem Morris, who was promoted from defensive coordinator after Dan Quinn's firing last week.

"It shows what we're capable of doing," Ryan told reporters. "We just have to find a way to be at that level week in and week out."

The biggest hurdle to any potential trades involving Atlanta's offensive stars is their contracts.

Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP, and Jones, a seven-time Pro Bowler, are both signed through the 2023 season, with the quarterback on a five-year, $150 million contract and the wide receiver having a three-year, $66 million deal.

Those types of contracts are difficult to move given the NFL's salary cap, particularly in Ryan's case since his cap hit is scheduled to skyrocket to $40.9 million in 2021, per Spotrac.

It's far more likely they can be moved in the offseason, when interested teams could also discuss restructuring options. Atlanta's rebuild may be in full swing by that point if its playoff drought extends to three years.

Both Ryan, 35, and Jones, 31, are likely past their peak seasons but could still make a major impact in the short term after a trade.

For now, the Falcons will attempt to keep turning their 2020 campaign around when they host the Detroit Lions at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.

This week's game between the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings will continue as scheduled despite the Falcons shutting down their facility earlier in the week because of a positive COVID-19 test, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. 

The Falcons announced Saturday that defensive end John Cominsky was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Atlanta also confirmed assistant coaches Jess Simpson and Tosh Lupoi won't travel with the team to U.S. Bank Stadium for Sunday's game. 

Cominsky, 24, has appeared in all five games this season, registering nine tackles (two for loss) and a fumble recovery. 

The Falcons, out of "an abundance of caution," shut down their facility Thursday after a personnel official tested positive for COVID-19, per Schefter.

"This decision was made in consultation with the NFL and medical officials," the team said in a statement. "The health and safety of our team is our highest priority."

Defensive tackle Marlon Davidson was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list—a designation for players who either tested positive for the coronavirus or came in contact with someone who did—Tuesday. 

As the Falcons noted in a statement: "Clubs are not permitted to comment on a player's medical status other than referring to roster status. Clubs may not disclose whether the player is in quarantine or is positive for COVID-19."

The team also announced that outside linebackers coach Aden Durde would help in coaching the defensive line, and that linebacker Edmond Robinson and defensive tackle Chris Slayton were moved to the active roster for Sunday's game. 

The 0-5 Falcons will try to secure their first win against the 1-4 Vikings in a battle of two teams that have underachieved to start the season. 

Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Julio Jones doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's Week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings after completing his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Will McFadden of the team's official website provided the update Friday.

The 2020 season couldn't have started much worse for the Falcons. They dropped their first five games, suffering back-to-back collapses of epic proportions in Weeks 2 and 3. Head coach Dan Quinn found himself out of a job.

Jones hasn't been immune from the team's general misfortune. The hamstring injury has slowed the seven-time Pro Bowler. Through three appearances, he has caught 15 passes for 213 yards and no touchdowns.

At this point, any hope the Falcons had of making the playoffs is likely gone, and simply avoiding a third straight losing season will be difficult.

Another injury to the 31-year-old would change little for Atlanta because you can't fall much further when you're already approaching rock bottom.

The Falcons can count on Calvin Ridley with Jones unavailable, but their lack of depth at receiver is exposed when you look below Ridley in the rotation.