Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley will miss Sunday's Week 5 game against the New York Jets in London because of a personal matter.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Thursday that Ridley won't make the trip to England with the team.

The 26-year-old has caught 27 passes for 255 yards and one touchdown in four games for the Falcons in 2021. Last year, the former Alabama star set career highs with 90 catches and 1,374 yards while scoring nine touchdowns.

The 6'1", 190-pound wideout went No. 26 overall to Atlanta in the 2018 NFL draft.

Ridley was thrust into the No. 1 wide receiver role for the Falcons after Atlanta traded superstar Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans during the offseason.

The pass-catching crew did receive reinforcements in the form of tight end Kyle Pitts, whom Atlanta selected fourth overall in the 2021 NFL draft.

Pitts could be the de facto No. 1 pass-catcher with Ridley out. Expect wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and tight end Hayden Hurst to get more looks as well. Wideout Russell Gage will also miss the Jets contest because of an ankle injury, per Schefter.

Ultimately, Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith will need to get creative without his top offensive weapon on the field.

Cordarrelle Patterson has established himself as a go-to weapon this season for the Atlanta Falcons, and that continued Sunday in a 34-30 loss against the Washington Football Team.

Patterson finished with five receptions for 82 yards and three touchdowns, all coming within the first three quarters. He started his day with a 42-yard bomb from quarterback Matt Ryan.

Patterson, who ranks second on the Falcons with 27 rushing attempts this season, came out of the backfield for his second score near the goal line.

Patterson's third touchdown was a beautiful back-shoulder catch over Washington cornerback Kendall Fuller.

Patterson's big day is a career-best performance fantasy-wise, and he still had nearly the entire second half left to play.

In addition to his big day receiving, Patterson led the Falcons with 34 rushing yards on six carries. His performance was efficient as he made the most of his time on the field.

From a fantasy perspective, Patterson has made a big splash this season. He's a threat to produce in both the running and passing games.

Patterson has had at least six rushing attempts in every game this season, and he's been targeted six or more times in three games, including Sunday.

In addition to Patterson, the Falcons have strong offensive weapons in receiver Calvin Ridley and rookie tight end Kyle Pitts. Atlanta's starting running back Mike Davis scored his first touchdown of the season Sunday on a seven-yard reception and will continue to take away touches from Patterson in the run game.

But Patterson's versatility is what sets him apart, and he's clearly becoming a favorite target of Ryan. With Patterson able to be placed in both the RB and WR spots, he should be considered a high-end RB2 with RB1 potential and a WR2/WR3 tweener.

After back-to-back losses to start the season, the Atlanta Falcons could potentially be looking to add some weapons on offense.

ESPN NFL senior reporter Jeremy Fowler reported that veteran wide receiver John Brown completed a workout with the Falcons on Tuesday. Fowler noted that nothing is imminent regarding a deal.

The Las Vegas Raiders released Brown in August, just five months after he signed with them as a free agent in March.

A seven-year veteran, Brown most recently enjoyed a two-year run with the Buffalo Bills. In his first year with the team in 2019, Brown accumulated a career-high 1,060 receiving yards. An ankle sprain and a stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list limited him to just nine games in 2020.

Prior to playing for the Bills, Brown played four seasons for the Arizona Cardinals, who drafted him in the third round of the 2014 draft. He also spent one season with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Falcons currently rank 25th in the NFL in total offense (304.0 yards per game) and 24th in passing offense (214.5 yards per game). Starting quarterback Matt Ryan is 15th in the league with a completion percentage of 69.1.

Calvin Ridley leads Atlanta in receiving with 12 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown on 18 targets. No other wide receiver on the roster has more than five catches or 10 targets.

Rookie tight end Kyle Pitts follows Ridley with 104 receiving yards and nine catches on 14 targets, but he has yet to reach the end zone. Running back Mike Davis ranks second on the team with 10 receptions. His backfield mate Cordarrelle Patterson is the only player besides Ridley to haul in a receiving touchdown so far this season.     

Since Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 lead over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, the 28-3 scoreline has become a meme associated with the team. 

But with the Falcons facing Brady's defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week, Ryan said he wasn't too concerned with the meme. 

"I never heard it. ... Listen, of course we want to win this week, but it's not going to make up for that," he told reporters Wednesday. "It's part of your past. It's part of what happened, but it's got no bearing on this week."

Brady, on the other hand, was leaning into the meme this week in a bit of pregame trolling:

Yes, the clock on Brady's laptop reads 3:28 in the video he released. To the winner goes the spoils, as they say. 

The torment continued for the Falcons last season, as Brady and the Bucs swept the season series. Granted, it was a pretty tough season in general for a Falcons team that finished 4-12. And things didn't get off to a great start this year, either, after Atlanta lost its home opener to the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-6. 

But Ryan appears confident the Falcons can, and will, improve. 

"The good teams I have been on are the ones that have gotten better as the year went on," he told reporters. 

Facing the defending champions, themselves coming off an exciting shootout win over the Dallas Cowboys, will be quite the litmus test for the Falcons. Nobody would blame them for losing—the Bucs might have the most talented roster in football—but if they don't look more competitive than they did Sunday, the alarm bells will be ringing. 

"Nobody is a victim here," head coach Arthur Smith told reporters. "We have to improve."

The Atlanta Falcons announced Thursday they have signed veteran running back Wayne Gallman while releasing Qadree Ollison.

Gallman spent training camp with the San Francisco 49ers but was released after the final preseason game. 

The 26-year-old played for the New York Giants for the past four years after being selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft.

After seeing limited playing time in his first three seasons, Gallman took on a significant role in 2020 after Saquon Barkley went down with a season-ending knee injury. The Clemson product started 10 games, leading the Giants with 682 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

His 4.6 yards per carry ranked 20th in the NFL. 

Gallman continued to produce in the preseason with San Francisco, totaling 153 rushing yards in three games. He was still outperformed by JaMycal Hasty, who earned a roster spot for the 49ers behind Raheem Mostert and Trey Sermon.

Atlanta took advantage, adding an experienced player behind starter Mike Davis.

Ollison has flashed upside, but he only had 23 rushing attempts over his first two seasons in the NFL.

Gallman also has a chance to earn snaps along with converted receiver and star returner Cordarrelle Patterson. Davis should still see the majority of touches out of the backfield after totaling 1,015 yards from scrimmage with the Carolina Panthers last season.  

The seeds of Julio Jones' discontent with the Atlanta Falcons may have begun as far back as 2019, as team chairman Arthur Blank tells it. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Blank said Jones felt the contract Atlanta extended to him that year—a three-year, $66 million deal—wasn't enough for a player who, at the time, was arguably the best wideout in the NFL.

"Look back at the Julio situation in 2019," Blank said (h/t The Athletic's Jeff Schultz). "We, being [GM Thomas Dimitroff], coach Quinn, the player and his agent [Jimmy Sexton], were all kind of at odds with each other. We got a contract done. We felt it was very generous. It made him the top paid receiver in NFL history. But for whatever reason, he felt it wasn't sufficient respect. I don't know why he'd feel that way, but he did feel that way."

The Falcons traded Jones and a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans this offseason for a second-round pick in 2022 and a fourth-round pick in 2023. 

Jones led the league in receiving yards in 2018 with 1,677 and eight touchdowns. He came right back in 2019 with 1,394 receiving yards but played just nine games with 771 yards in 2020, finishing with fewer than 1,000 yards receiving for the first time since 2013 (580 yards in five games).

Blank wanted Jones to remain a Falcon for life. Now he struggles to utter that phrase again. 

"Look, he gave us 10 great years," Blank said. "He's going to be a Hall of Fame player. He was a good teammate for all that period of time. [But] his ability or willingness to practice the way he did early in his career was different. There were some people who were in the building who had an effect on him. He wanted out, and the last thing coach [Arthur] Smith wants is a player who doesn't want to be here."

The trade may end up as a catalyst for a much-needed rebuild in Atlanta. With a few top picks in hand, the Falcons can build around the likes of tight end Kyle Pitts and wideout Calvin Ridley. 

As the career of quarterback Matt Ryan reaches its final chapters, a top passer in this year's draft could be the difference on offense. Whomever Atlanta takes with the picks Tennessee sent for Jones, Blank will do his best not to get too attached.

"Well, I would say the purpose of [saying I wanted Jones to remain a Falcon for life] was very well-intended," Blank said. "I probably won't use it because, as things turn out, obviously, where I've used it a couple of times, it turns out not to be true. It's really a sign of respect and intent."

Amid a series of major roster moves during the offseason, Matt Ryan never considered leaving the Atlanta Falcons at any point. 

Speaking to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Ryan said moving on from the Falcons "never crossed my mind."

"I love being here," he added. "I love being a part of this organization. Arthur Blank has been incredible to me from the minute I was drafted. He's incredible to my family. So I'm thankful for that opportunity. I love being in this city, living here."

There was no indication during the offseason that the Falcons wanted to move on from their franchise quarterback. 

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported in February (h/t NFL.com's Kevin Patra) that Ryan "is not going anywhere," and the Falcons were not having trade conversations with other teams at that point. 

Even if the Falcons wanted to move on from Ryan, his contract would have made it incredibly difficult to do so. They would have had to take on his $65.437 million dead cap hit if he got traded or released. 

Atlanta did get rid of Ryan's favorite target in June when Julio Jones was traded to the Tennessee Titans. 

Despite not having Jones to throw to anymore, the Falcons cupboard is far from bare for Ryan. They still have Calvin Ridley as a No. 1 wide receiver and rookie tight end Kyle Pitts has been drawing rave reviews since before the 2021 NFL draft. 

Ryan has been one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the NFL over the course of his 13-year career. The 36-year-old has thrown for at least 4,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in each of the past 10 seasons,    

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank is contributing to the Hurricane Ida relief efforts. 

Per an official statement from the Falcons, Blank is donating $1 million to the American Red Cross and Greater New Orleans Foundation through the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation: 

This storm's impact on many people and communities will be felt for some time and that includes many of our family, friends and associates across our portfolio of businesses and foundation who have personal connections to the Gulf Coast. Many of the communities being devastated by this storm are already reeling from COVID. So many are without power and resources are already stretched thin, so it is not only impacting those who were in the storm's path, but also those who've been called upon to help those areas get back on their feet.

Both organizations will receive $500,000 each, bringing the total contribution from Blank to $1 million. 

Per Rebecca Santana and Jay Reeves of the Associated Press, more than 1 million homes and businesses across Mississippi and Louisiana are without power after Ida made landfall on Sunday. 

Santana and Reeves noted the entire city of New Orleans is among the places with no power. 

Entergy New Orleans tweeted Tuesday morning that it was "conducting inspections of the system to get a clearer picture of what will be needed to repair the destruction." The company noted a full assessment of the damage could take "several days, as many areas are currently inaccessible."

In addition to the property damage across Mississippi and Louisiana, sweltering heat conditions in both states could cause additional problems since many people are without power and have limited access to water. 

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton told reporters the team is preparing to be away from the city for the first quarter of the regular season. 

The Atlanta Falcons are reportedly bringing in Josh Rosen to provide quarterback depth in the wake of AJ McCarron's torn ACL. 

Per ESPN's Jordan Schultz, the 2018 first-round pick will sign with Atlanta to compete for the backup job leading into the regular season. 

The Falcons announced McCarron suffered the injury during Saturday's preseason game against the Miami Dolphins. 

The setback occurred on a scramble in the second quarter, though it wasn't initially clear anything was wrong because he remained in the game for one more play before going to the sideline. 

Scott Bair of the team's website noted Monday that the Falcons brought in multiple quarterbacks for a workout. 

Matt Ryan is entrenched as the Falcons starter. Feleipe Franks, an undrafted rookie from Arkansas, will be the only other quarterback on Atlanta's roster until Rosen's signing becomes official. 

Rosen has been a free agent since Aug. 17 when the San Francisco 49ers waived him. The 24-year-old joined the Niners in December to provide depth in the wake of injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens. 

The No. 10 pick in the 2018 NFL draft, Rosen started 13 games as a rookie for the Arizona Cardinals. He was traded to the Miami Dolphins in April 2019 after the Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray. 

Rosen has a 3-13 career record as a starter. He has thrown for 2,845 yards, 12 touchdowns, 19 interceptions and a 54.8 completion percentage in 20 appearances.    

The Atlanta Falcons are the first team in the NFL to have  100 percent of their players receive a COVID-19 vaccination, according to Zach Klein of WSB Atlanta.

As Scott Bair of the team's official site noted, the players now receive a wide range of benefits for the high vaccination rate based on NFL protocols, including not having to wear masks around the team facility. The players also do not have to face daily tests for COVID-19 or quarantine after close contact with someone who does test positive.

This could allow more players to stay on the field during the 2021 season.

The difference can be important with the NFL noting that outbreaks among unvaccinated players could lead to forfeits this season.

While some NFL players have been outspoken against the vaccine, including Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and Buffalo Bills receiver Cole Beasley, the majority of the league has been vaccinated.

Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press reported on July 30 that 88.5 percent of players have had at least one shot while 20 teams had at least a 90 percent vaccination rate.

This is a higher rate than the general public with 59.8 percent of the total population in the United States and 70 percent of the eligible population (people age 12 or older) receiving at least one shot as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The Falcons' success also comes as Georgia remains one of the least vaccinated states in the country with just 48.1 percent of the total population getting at least one shot, per the Mayo Clinic.

"All we try to do is provide the information so guys can make their own personal choices and make everything available for them to educate themselves," head coach Arthur Smith said in June. "Again, these are all personal choices."