Douglas, Jerry and Williams medically cleared for camp
Wide receiver Harry Douglas has been cleared to return to practice. (Curtis Compton/Ccompton@ajc.com)
Wide receiver Harry Douglas, defensive tackle Peria Jerry and cornerback Brian Williams have all been medically cleared to participate in practice when training camp opens on Friday, Falcons head coach Mike Smith told the Atlanta Journal-constitution on Tuesday.
“They will start on a limited basis and we’re going to monitor them and manage them throughout training camp,” Smith said. “They will not be involved, to start with, in two-a-days. They will be practicing once a day and we’ll bring them along very, very slowly.”
All three players suffered season-ending knee injuries last season.
Douglas suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Aug. 5 and was placed on injured reserve the next day.
Douglas is expected to add some pop to the receiving corps if he can fully recover.
In 2008 as a rookie, he played in all 16 games and caught 23 passes for 320 yards, rushed 12 times for 33 yards — mostly on reverses — and averaged 11.9 yards per punt return. He scored one touchdown receiving, one rushing and one on a punt return as a triple-threat.
Jerry, the team’s first round pick in 2009, suffered a knee injury in the second game of the season against Carolina on Sept. 20. He was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 21.
He’s expected to add some inside muscle and stability to the defensive line if he can fully recover.
Williams was added to the team at the outset of last season. A few days later, he opened the season as the starting left cornerback and moved down inside to the slot in nickel situations.
He suffered a knee injury in the fifth game of the season against Chicago on Oct. 18. He was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 20.
He’s expected to contend for a starting spot if he can fully recover.
“Their workloads will increase depending on how they handle their recovery,” Smith said. “They have been working really, really hard this offseason. I’m excited that they have been cleared and are ready to go.”
If the players were not cleared for practice, they could have been placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and continued their rehabilitations.
“We’ll start them out at the beginning of the camp to see how their bodies handle the work load,” Smith said. “As long as they reach certain milestones, we will continue to ramp it up.”
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88 comments Add your comment
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
July 27th, 2010
1:00 pm
no TO, just sign Spoon for crying out loud!!!
D. Orlando Ledbetter
July 27th, 2010
1:21 pm
SOME VIDEO OF TD AT THE ATL PRESS CLUB TODAY — Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff want fans to RISE UP. He spoke today to the Atlanta Press Club. http://bit.ly/b4DgjQ
DawgDad
July 27th, 2010
1:24 pm
You really have to look at all three of these guys as potentially helping somewhere down the road and not guys you pencil in coming out of the gate, unless someone shows they are truly fully recovered. Douglas will be easy to evaluate as a receiver; Williams needs to ensure his knee is strong and his quickness restored. Jerry may be the most worrisome because he’s bearing the force of his big load and some monster guard or tackle (or a doubleteam) on that repaired knee. Rather see him come back strong somewhere into the season than take a risk early and go down again. All three of these guys should have the luxury of playing their way back in through a controlled rotation.
Paddy
July 27th, 2010
1:25 pm
Joe Tess….I have said his several times, to quote you, The Falcons will not sign TO according to TD. So you will not be going to any Falcon games this season. Cincinnati is close to signing him, and there goes their playoff hopes before the season even gets to training camp.
ryan
July 27th, 2010
1:28 pm
From what here is Corey Peters has been real impressive he might be a steal.
Paddy
July 27th, 2010
1:30 pm
Oregon Falcon,, yes players now come back from knee injuries, even ACL, faster than ever before. Great strides have been made in this area. The bigger guys like Jerry have the longest recovery time. The knee was just not made to put 330 lbs on that joint and play pro football. But if they work real, real hard they can contribute at a high level.
Joe Tess Fish House
July 27th, 2010
1:45 pm
TD is putting up a smoke screen. The ONLY way this team progresses is with TO on the roster.
rekingball
July 27th, 2010
2:14 pm
TO is about washed-up. Everyone puts Jenkins down, but at this point in both of their careers, Jenkins is just plain ole, better than TO. Sorry.
The Falcons are a lot better without TO, than they would be with him.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
July 27th, 2010
2:21 pm
Joe Tess — OK we get you’re point. BUT he’s not coming here unless you buy the team in the next 24 hours.
hangman
July 27th, 2010
2:29 pm
JERRY WILL NEVER PLAY A COMPLETE GAME OR EVEN HALF A GAME. HE WILL NURSE THIS INJURY FOR AS LONG AS THE FALCONS WILL PAY HIM. HE IS FAT AND LAZY WITHOUT THE DESIRE TO PLAY.
ROB
July 27th, 2010
2:34 pm
i had knee surgery last. i’m fully recoverd. knee is stronger than before. ACL, MCL, knee scoped. also had sholder surgery 1 month after my knee surgery. GO Dr. Orcutt southern ortho spec. if the coaches and the medical team didn’t think they could go @ the beginning of the season they would not clear them now, they would put them on IR. after running on a stronger knee and lifting with a stronger sholder i actually have more confidence in tham both. go falcons!!!!!!!!!
SeenThisB4
July 27th, 2010
2:45 pm
Dang ROB, what happened to you man? That’s some serious surgery.
hangman…..are you really FALCON SORRY?
Paddy
July 27th, 2010
2:46 pm
Joe Tess, smoke screen? For what purpose? The guys a FA, no need to play games, this is not the draft where you try and mask your intentions! Sorry Joe, no TO!
ryan
July 27th, 2010
3:00 pm
I hope the Falcons sign a DE when the they start making cuts they so thin at that position.
ROB
July 27th, 2010
3:25 pm
@ seen,dirt bike riding, also i’m 41yrs these young dirty birds should heal 10x faster.
Football Fan
July 27th, 2010
3:57 pm
Hey Hangman….your comments (JERRY WILL NEVER PLAY A COMPLETE GAME OR EVEN HALF A GAME. HE WILL NURSE THIS INJURY FOR AS LONG AS THE FALCONS WILL PAY HIM. HE IS FAT AND LAZY WITHOUT THE DESIRE TO PLAY.)
do you know Peria? If he was so fat and lazy he wouldn’t have been the strongest player at Ole Miss and lead the SEC and be one of the tops in the nation in tackles for loss his senior year. You need to get a clue and find out more about someone before mouthing off.
CaliDirtyBird
July 27th, 2010
5:22 pm
I had ACL replaced and torn minicus trimmed back in 2001 after b-ball injury. Had a d@mn Blue Cross HMO and it took 4 months from the first DR visit until surgery. The 4 months of muscle loss before surgery combined with having a white-collar IT desk job and commute impacted my rehab. For me it took a number of years to feel really good. IMO, yes, you could be close to 100% a year later but a lot depends on how fast you get surgery, how aggressive you can rehab, what type of ACL surgery. What are they replacing your ACL with? Cadaver ham string probably the best option and probably what all NFL players have done now. Cadaver is what I had. Old methods, involved using a portion of the injured persons own calf muscle or hamstring to replace the ACL. Essentially, giving the injured person a second injury to fix the first. The surgery has evolved and best practices for rehabbing have evolved over the last 15 to 20 years so I think comparisons to past injured players aren’t so relevent unless the player you compare them to was more recent…
CaliDirtyBird
July 27th, 2010
5:32 pm
Rehabbing is a delicate balance. Hard enough to regain and/ or maintain muscle mass but not so much that you rip the ligament out from the biodegradable pin keeping it in bone until the bone replaces the pin… In my case I had two docs. One played good doc saying make sure you do enough rehab and the other cautioned about patients that overdid it and required a second surgery…
CaliDirtyBird
July 27th, 2010
5:45 pm
Yes, as a previous poster stated yes the new ACL feels stronger but in my case the replacement which was put in tight but over the rehab process stretched or loosened which means there is “play” in the knee and it can pop slightly out of joint when the knee muscles get fatigued during exercise. Something like this combined with the good doc bad doc dialog in your head can impact a players “trusting” the repaired knee.
Suffice to say. Chances of 100% recovery today better than in the past but until you see it on the field, who knows.
L.A. Mont
July 27th, 2010
5:58 pm
T.O. is a Hall of Fame WR. But if he really was the impact player and locker guy you want, San Fran, Philly and Dallas would not have let him go. Expecially Dallas, where you know Jerry Jones likes good and bad attention. (Not counting Buffalo, that was strictly a financial decision, and since they were irrelevant last season, no one really cared what he had to say.) And of those 3 teams (SF, Philly, Dallas), he went to one Super Bowl. No team would deny his talent, but they just can’t trust that he won’t blow out the QB/team with some selfish comment. If he didn’t know, now he knows…peace.
Let’s go Falcons! Have you seen the commercial with Samuel Jackson? Love it. I’m fired up!
CaliDirtyBird
July 27th, 2010
5:59 pm
I don’t expect all three to be 100% this year, certainly not early in the season but since we played most of last season, if we get one strong early, one mid season and the last one late or never… We are still better than last year. And if we just hadn’ti missed FG we’d have probably been in the playoffs last year…
Barry
July 27th, 2010
6:04 pm
I GOT A HEART ATTACK!! I GOT A HEART ATTACK!! I GOT A HEART ATTACK!!!!!IT’S “ONE HEARTBEAT!!!” IT’S “ONE HEARTBEAT!!” WE’RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE’RE BACK!!!!!!! ARE YOU READY TO PLAY SOME FOOTBALL????!!!!
I SAID “ARE YOU READY TO PLAY SOME FOOTBALL???!!!!!!” PEOPLE OF ATLANTA!PEOPLE OF GEORGIA! ARTHUR BLANK! COACH SMITH! ATLANTA FALCONS COACHES!! AND OF COURSE, THOSE KNITTY, GRITTY, NASTY PLAYING, HARD HITTING, NO-NONSENSE, SOUTHERN SMASH MOUTH, IN YOUR FACE FALCON PLAYERS!!!! WE ARE DOWN WITH THIS IN “ONE HEARTBEAT!!!” WE ARE “ONE”!! THE OWNERS,THE COACHES, THE PLAYERS, THE COMMUNITY. WE ARE DOWN WITH THIS IN “ONE HEARTBEAT!!!” THE SEASON IS UPON US. THE SEASON IS HERE!!!!! WE OWE FOLKS. THOSE TEAMS ON THE SCHEDULE HAVE BETTER BEWARE OF THESE FALCONS AND US FANS. WE ARE COMING AT YOU IN
“ONE HEARTBEAT!!” “ONE VOICE!!” “ONE SOUND!!’ AND THAT’S “THE SUPER BOWL TROPHY” HERE IN ATLANTA. WE ARE DOWN WITH THIS WE ARE DOWN WITH THIS IN “ONE HEARTBEAT!!”. EVERY PLAY: “ONE HEARTBEAT11″ EVERY HIT: “ONE HEARTBEAT!!!” EVERY CHEER: “ONE HEARTBEAT!!” EVERY GAME:”ONE HEARTBEAT!!” EVERY WIN: ONE HEARTBEAT!!! IT’S A “HEART ATTACK,BABY.” CAN YOU STAND IT!!!??? THIS IS ATLANTA!! THIS IS GEORGIA!!! THIS IS OUR TEAM. THESE ARE OUR FALCONS. WE ARE “ONE”. WE MOVE IN “ONE HEARTBEAT!!!” THE BEAT IS ON!!!! WE ARE DOWN WITH THIS!! IT’S ON!!!! CAN YOU STAND THE “HEART ATTACK!!??”. CAN YOU STAND IT!!!?….THE “PROCESS” CONTINUES TO THE SUPER BOWL. WE ARE DOWN WITH THIS. NOW, ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!!!!????? LET’S DO THIS IN “ONE HEARTBEAT!!!
GO FALCON!!!!!!!!TAKE “NO PRISONERS” TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!! IT’S ON!!!!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS A SECRET FROM A FALCON FAN. TELL EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!
……………………”ONE HEARTBEAT,BABY!!!!”……….
yo mama
July 27th, 2010
6:26 pm
looking back at the draft, i am glad we didnt go get brandon graham. philly gave up several picks to move up and sign him, and he wont sign in time, and it hurts them. many said we should draft Sergio Kindle, who has has a heap of problems, and now look, he slipped on some stairs after he woke up in a drunken stupor!
ryan
July 27th, 2010
6:28 pm
TO just signed with the Cincinnati so enough with TO time to Rise Up .
hangman
July 27th, 2010
8:40 pm
history of Jerry – Jerry, healthy after enduring injuries for the bulk of his college career, history goes on to say that he was injured his freshman year and only recorded 3 sacks. The only good news was that he was mean. I hope he comes back and hurts every OL he faces. I’ll be willing to bet a bottle of Jack that that won’t happen this year. The key word in describing Jerry is INJURED.
D.S.G.B.
July 27th, 2010
8:52 pm
i can’t wait to see the falcons in this upcoming season. people just dont realize how good they are going to be. come playoff time, the falcons are gonna have alot of bandwagon fans. hopefully everyone stays healthy, and matt ryan learned as much as they say he studied. i honestly dont see any team that is gonna stand in our way to the superbowl. hopefully im not delusional, but only time will tell. GOOOOO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!
ryan
July 27th, 2010
9:14 pm
Cincinnati is going to blow up Bengals are going to turn into are a jail sell .
Keith
July 28th, 2010
12:50 am
Good to hear!
With the additions on offense and defense, overall improved health (crossing fingers it continues), and the continued improvement at QB, we should be a consistent winning team this year!
Excited about the Dirty Birds.
falconfanintitantown
July 28th, 2010
12:55 am
Hey joe fish head, for the love of tuna, quit wit the to crap. this guy WAS good. He was never as good as he thought he was though. Da falcons will be better for years to come because they look out for the longterm. the way they draft, the way selectively sign free agents, and the way they coach and develop the players. I know its hard to beleive, but we now have a franchise that is headed in a superbowl winning direction.
willie g really really really hates the aints.
July 28th, 2010
4:19 am
the falcons need rest ,quiet traincamp starts in 2 days in 120 degree heat iwill pray for the falcon players they are gonna need it.
#NFL News and Notes – July 28, 2010 | The Other 31
July 28th, 2010
8:10 am
[...] Three key Atlanta Falcons coming off injuries were medically cleared to practice. [...]
Jeff
July 28th, 2010
9:13 am
Forget TO already, he is in Cincy. I would like for us to have taken a look at Austin Miles UFA from Dallas.
Jerry, Douglas & Williams receive camp clearance | Atlanta Falcons
July 28th, 2010
10:09 am
[...] limited basis and we’re going to monitor them and manage them throughout training camp,” Smith told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday morning. “They will not be involved, to start with, in two-a-days. They will be [...]
Falcon Red
July 28th, 2010
10:13 am
To Joe Tess: We know people on the streets won’t talk to you. The only way you have any kind of communication is to be ‘controversial’ or take the opposing view – knowing that you’ll get a response.
The rest of us that know football, like football, and are Falcon Fans bid you farewell as you move on to the Cincinnati to kiss TO’s butt! I’m glad you won’t be at any of the Falcon games this year!
Luther
July 28th, 2010
11:01 am
Not good that Trey Lewis wasnt in this update. When do we get to hear about him as well?
NC
July 28th, 2010
1:43 pm
At least we won’t have to worry about seeing fishhouse at the games!
Ken Strickland
July 28th, 2010
4:54 pm
LUTHER-Trey Louis returned from his injury last yr, and will enter this yrs training camp healthy and ready to go all out. Last yr he was also held back, and who knows how long it took him to feel comfortable with his knee and go all out. All of last yrs issue will be behind him during this training camp, and he’ll either be competing to fill in for JBabineaux until he serves out his anticipated suspension, or to beat out PJerry for the starting spot opposite JBabineaux.
Since we carried 5 DT’s last yr, I see TLewis, PJerry, JBabineaux, CPeters and JAnderson making the team. JAnderson will provide backup at DT and DE. After last yrs solid performance while filling in for injured PJerry, I doubt if we can maintain DT’s VWalker or TJohnson on our practice squad.
torgo
July 29th, 2010
2:40 pm
We carried five DEs in both 2008 and 2009, and for a while we even had six of them in 2008.
But five DTs, no. Peria Jerry went on IR before Vance Walker was called up from the practice squad, so there were only four DTs on the roster at a time.