UPDATE
FLOWERY BRANCH – Starting defensive tackle Corey Peters suffered an

Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Corey Peters (91) pressures St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford (8) during the first quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
apparent left leg injury and was taken off the field on a cart during Sunday’s morning practice.
Falcons coach Mike Smith will update Peters’ status after the evening walk-through practice.
Linebacker Akeem Dent, the Falcons third-round draft pick (91st overall), did not practice and was wearing a brace on his left knee.
“That was a very physical game (against Miami),” Smith said. “Both teams play hard. We have a couple of guys that are probably not going to be ready to go by the end of the week.”
In addition to Dent, tight end Justin Peelle (knee) and quarterback John Parker Wilson (concussion) did not practice on Sunday.
Right guard Mike Johnson (concussion) returned to practice on Sunday and is expected to fully participate in practice on Monday.
Tight end Marquez Branson (left knee) and defensive tackle Vance Walker (ankle) could return to action soon.
Defensive end Ray Edwards, who is recovering from knee surgery, had his practice schedule ramped up a bit on Sunday.
“It was almost full participation,” Smith said. “We will know more by the end of the week.”
Smith was not ready to declare Edwards in or out of this week’s exhibition game against Jacksonville.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
94 comments Add your comment
dembirdzcanfly
August 14th, 2011
9:13 pm
ok ill let u think that. we can go on all day about depth but i think u kno we have pretty good depth everywhere besides at corner and safety.
dembirdzcanfly
August 14th, 2011
9:15 pm
well he mine as well have not played he got 2 snaps. itz not worth mentionin he played.
Joe11
August 14th, 2011
9:15 pm
SeenThisB4– Didnt we Coach Smith beat Payton in 08 and 2010
OSAMABIN_FALCON
August 14th, 2011
9:16 pm
SeenthisB4 you have no life…you are a Saint/Computer junkie who sits at home and blogs on the Falcons sites all day is definitely a loser..you keep me entertained I might spare you..lol
OSAMABIN_FALCON
August 14th, 2011
9:17 pm
Falcons will go 12-4 and whup the Aint’s
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
9:19 pm
Joe11: Yes, Smith won once in 2008.
Joe11
August 14th, 2011
9:22 pm
SeenThisB4– and 2010
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
9:24 pm
OSAMABINFALCON: I have no life? Didn’t Seal Team 6 take you out? AND I HAVE NO LIFE?!!!!
Joe11
August 14th, 2011
9:26 pm
SeenThisB4– nice comeback, and im a falcon fan lol
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
9:27 pm
JOE11: 4&2. vs. 5&1. I can see why you would argue that. It is a major difference.
Joe11
August 14th, 2011
9:27 pm
OSAMABIN_FALCON– You set yourself up with that name lol
OSAMABIN_FALCON
August 14th, 2011
9:36 pm
LOL OH YA GOOD ONE SeenthisB4 but you’re beloved SAINTS won’t have a life after we whup that A## twice…n u won’t neither after ya don’t maake the playoffs you can go on and kill yourself…season ova…..
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
9:39 pm
I’m out.
Somebody tell Ledbetter that his countdown clock to the Bears kickoff is off by an hour. When that clock finally gets to zero, they’ll be deep in the 2nd quarter. Oh Atlanta folk! Can’t even get a countdown clock right!
OSAMABIN_FALCON
August 14th, 2011
9:43 pm
Ya you be paying to much attention to the birds I think your a FALCON FAN 4 real.
Ken Strickland
August 14th, 2011
9:45 pm
SEENTHISB4-Let’s talk about how DBrees couldn’t complete more than one pass in 3 possessions, or how your starting OFF couldn’t score a single pt against the 49ers. I don’t blame or begrudge any of your AINT FANS for coming onto our site to find out what your superiors are doing.
Intelligent Falcon fans know how much AINT FANS fear the Falcons, and the thumb in the dyke moves your BELOVED AINTS have made won’t do much, if anything at all to improve your team. You want to talk about a lack of depth, let’s talk about what your BELOVED AINTS will do if QB DBrees, or any of your starting OLinemen, are injured. What happens to your secondary if you lose RHarper?
THE TEAM YOU NEED TO BE CONCERNING YOURSELF ABOUT HAVING A LACK OF DEPTH IS THE NEW ORLEAN AINTS, NOT THE ATLANTA “DIRTY BIRD” FALCONS. Your BELOVED AINTS are just one player, one player(QB DBrees), from having a total collapse.
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
9:51 pm
Yeah Ken, uh-huh. Drew couldn’t complete a pass in his first two possessions in the SuperBowl either. But ended up 31 of 37. Yeah, I’m REEEEAL WORRIED ABOUT DREW. Harper? Are you kidding me? Ah ha, ha, ha! Come on Ken, do better. I expect better from you! Harper!
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 14th, 2011
9:52 pm
I would actually say the Saints have less depth than the Falcons. Again, this is the Saints not realizing it is not 2009 anymore. They used to be stacked. Now they lack depth at DB and at OL. They have a lot of LB, but only one is truly starter quality. They are hoping one of their other 9 LBs step up, but so far they haven’t. Their OL is horrible so far. Did you see Brees running for his life in the pre season game? They used to have a pretty decent OL, but they looked horrible. Doesn’t matter if you have an elite QB and a shiny new RB if the OL can’t block. Like I said, Saints don’t worry me nearly as much as Tampa this year.
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
10:02 pm
Don’t Feed: The OL “used to be”? Yeah, we got a different center, so they aren’t the same unit. And no I didn’t see Brees running for his life. I did see Parker Wilson headed to the hospital for further diagnostic tests though! LOL!!!
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
10:07 pm
It just hit me, you guys aren’t worried about the Saints cause you’re used to losing to the Saints, but you ARE worried about losing to the Bucs cause you’re not used to that. Well….you’ll get used to it,….resistence is futile!
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 14th, 2011
10:08 pm
You mean our 3rd string QB? Yeah, not worried about him. Did you see our first string QB have a 122 rating and complete 60% and 1 TD? Did you see Brees run for his life and throw passes to no one? I did.
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
10:21 pm
@Don’t Feed”: First, why are you engaging me? I thought you said you wouldn’t. Can’t resist huh?! Or is it lack of self-discipline?!
Yeah, I saw Stinchcomb lose his blocking assignment. I also saw Drew instinctively sense it and avoid that rush, run to his left and get rid of the ball instead of taking a sack. I got no criticism of that. That’s what makes him elite. Did you see the stat that shoed he had the highest completion rating of all QBs last year? I bet you missed that huh!!
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 14th, 2011
10:28 pm
Not worried about the Saints because they aren’t the 2009 team anymore. I am not saying they are terrible or anything. See, I am at least intelligent enough to admit that not everything the saints do is terrible. However, they are not the team of destiny that they were in 2009. Brees is not as good as he was back then. You offense isn’t as dynamic now that teams have a lot of film on them. In 2009, the defense was so good because they got so many turn overs. That isn’t going to happen again and your defense relied too heavily on it. While I think Ingram will be decent, I don’t think your Oline is a dominate run blocking line so your run game will be mediocre. Again, I am not going to show my ignorance by predicting you guys win 5 games. I do think the Saints are a good team. Its just that you aren’t head and shoulders better than anyone in the NFC South anymore. There are three very good teams in the South and truthfully any of us could win the South. The problem is Saints fans think this is 2009 and that every thing about them is golden. I would just like to meet one Saints fan who can have an intelligent conversation about football. I have yet to find one.
Don't feed Aints trolls (It isn't 2009 anymore)
August 14th, 2011
10:38 pm
I engage you because someday I hope to understand the delusional mind of a Saints fan. Its like you guys don’t even watch games. Like you refuse to admit your first team offense was terrible. Like you refuse to admit that we didn’t play our second stringers as much as we played players on the bubble who were being evaluated. Like you refuse to admit that your team has weaknesses just like most other NFL teams. Like you refuse to admit that losing to the worst team to ever make the playoffs is worse than losing to the super bowl champions. I just find Saints fans blissfully ignorant.
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
10:59 pm
I don’t think everything about the Saints is golden. They are black and golden. And expecting you to admit that we are head and shoulders better than the bucs and falcan’ts is like expecting me to admit the same of your team. I didn’t say your team was a five win team either, I said they were a nine win team, which means they will be on the plus side of the ledger when it’s all said and done. Where they all end up, is based on game day intangibles. Who could predict Hartley missing a chip shot fg to win it last year or Turner being stripped at the one? Not me and not you.
Don’t expect the Saints to show up with the same team this year. They rebuilt it, retooled it; both sides of the line of scrimmage and special teams as well. Partly due to all the free agents we had, partly due to the salary structure, partly due to the draft and partly due to free agent analysis and gets.
This ISN’T 2009, It’s 2011 and our team is going for the Lombardi, again. Not because of the date on the calendar.
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
11:07 pm
Really, therein lies your failure. You think losing to Green Bay is better than losing to the hawks. Hmmm’ they BOTH lost. They both went one and out. They both watched the Super Bowl on their sofas. But because your team lost to Green Bay that makes your team better. If that computes for you, fine. But it doesn’t impress me, or very many others, of that I am sure.
dawgforlife
August 14th, 2011
11:26 pm
b4…4-2 is better than 5-1…because, it means the teams have split except for your SB year when half our team was injured…and I am glad your going for the Lombardi…we are as well…I think both teams are very good…I do think your defense will be stout…it won’t help because our offense will hand 30 on you both games…now, I am not going to say we’re gonna shut ya’ll down…both games are going to be who has the ball last…two great teams running up and down the field on each other…I do believe though…be it 2009 or 11, you window is slowly beginning to close while ours is just beginning to open. I look forward to the competition as we both “go for the Lombardi.”
Matt Ryan's Brain
August 14th, 2011
11:32 pm
Falcons should have signed Aubrayo Franklin, UFA from Niners – dude is awesome run defender and Saints got him cheap on one year contract.
lowdownjj
August 14th, 2011
11:37 pm
Hope Peters is ok. He’s was great against the run all last yr. We need him in the rotation. And if we true Falcon fans didn’t acknowledge some of this Aints garbage it sure would take away some of the joy they get from their rants
SeenThisB4
August 14th, 2011
11:38 pm
Maybe that window of opportunity won’t be open next year. We’ll see about that next year.
As for this year, the Saint are going to blow up the whole wall.
Hang 30 on us? Good luck with that, I bet your team won’t hang more than 30 EE -1 in both games.
StatesBurr
August 15th, 2011
12:43 am
Crazy, the City of New Orleans couldn’t protect their citizens by evacuation but could fill up 25 buses to go to a football game.
Brian
August 15th, 2011
6:32 am
I think Mo is right. 5:15 of the second quarter, LB Robert James dove up field toward the ball carrier near the sideline as Peters was running toward the sideline to make the tackle. For a second, James slid into Peters left leg and bowed out his knee with his weight on it. Hopefully it was just stressed and didn’t do any structural damage…
joe white
August 15th, 2011
10:50 am
I just hope no one is seriously hurt. but good shown from our boys.
waynester
August 15th, 2011
11:40 am
NO has just as many (if not more) walking wounded than ATL: Porter and Colston are just getting back plus there’s Sproles, J Bell, Stinchcomb, Ivory, Romeus, Humber, Ingram,Charleston, Johnson and Barron on the injury report.
ATL has: JPWilson, Peters, Peele and V Walker.
Who’s fragile, again?
Ken Strickland
August 15th, 2011
12:52 pm
DLEDBETTER-My last 4-5 posts have been blocked, why? I mentioned the Eagles starting QB in my last post, which probably explains why it was blocked. But none of my other posts had his name, any profanity, abusive or insulting language. WHAT’S GOING ON?
Ken Strickland
August 15th, 2011
12:56 pm
SEENTHISB4-you won’t get better from me because I refuse to stoop to your delusional approach to dealing with everything. I’ll stick with my logical, common sense approach to dealing with both the Falcons and the AINTS. You said the AINTS
Big Ray
August 15th, 2011
12:58 pm
Saint fans need to be worried, as the Falcons win back to back division titles. Green Bay destroys the Saints on opening night, Drew Brees is injured and out for the season. Tell me how your depth will get you in the playoffs. you are coming off of a Super Bowl win, with a wild card first round exit.
it’s Not For Long, in the nfl, and the Saints are not for long, as your QB is old, and your team is overrated!
That pretty much says it all. Explains why Saints fans are renting space on Falcon fan blogs….
Ken Strickland
August 15th, 2011
1:09 pm
Continuation: DEF will be formatible, but you didn’t say how it will happen. I did some research on your DEF and here’s what I found. Your projected starting DL will be comprised of:
1-Rookie DE CJordan, who wasn’t much of a pass rusher in college and isn’t expected to contribute much to the AINTS pass rushing woes.
2-Nine yr vet DT AFranklin has a career total of 4 sacks, WOW.
3-DT SEllis is solid and your best interior DLineman by far.
4-DE WSmith is also solid and is your best DE by far.
DE WSmith will start the season serving at least a 4gm suspension and will likely be replaced by DE JCharleston, who has 7 career sacks in his 5yr career. Your also signed massive 350lb FA DT SRogers, who’s another of your past his prime 11yr vet that registered fewer than 20 total tackles and only 2 sacks last yr.
You’re also returning last yrs none playmaking secondary, that couldn’t manage to register collectively as many INT’s as Falcons CB BGrimes and FS WMoore did individually. Please, please, tell us what your LB’s are going to do to overcome the deficiencies of your entire secondary and DL, and make your overall DEF so formatible.
welikebaseball2
August 15th, 2011
1:15 pm
Okay, SeenThisB4, I’ll try this again. You’ve yet to respond to this question. LOL…go figure. Do you think starters count as part of a team’s “depth”? If so, in all your talk about “depth,” what does that say about your offensive starting unit’s punchless showing the other night? I mean, they outscored the 49ers’ starters by what…a whopping 3 points? 3…points…seriously. I know, I know, you want to brag about your backups. Come to think of it, if I were you & I saw the Falcons’ starters put up 17 points, I’d stick to talking about the reserves too.
Big Ray
August 15th, 2011
1:17 pm
Really, therein lies your failure. You think losing to Green Bay is better than losing to the hawks.
No, actually, there lies YOUR failure.
We’re not saying that losing to Green BAy is better than losing to the Seahawks.
We’re saying that what’s WORSE than making the playoffs a second year in a row and losing to the eventual SB champs is this:
1) Being the reigning SB champ and then the very next season, losing your division title to a team you swear up and down is….oh, what was the phrase? “Head and shoulders” below you?
2) Losing a wild card playoff game in that same year to the absolute worst team in the playoffs that year, a team with a LOSING record, from a losing division.
It’s called falling far, fast . Oh what, you had a couple of injuries, is that it? Strange how injuries count for one team, but NOT for another. Hmmmmm….
I wonder if Giants fans are still doing the same thing that Saints fans are doing now? You know, running around and waving an old Lombardi Trophy with an Eli Manning signature on it and going “Hey, at least we won a SB!”
One and done. How does it feel? That’s not what we’re building for HERE. We want to compete every year when our team is fully built. Not rise all the way up and then fall almost all the way down (hey, at least you made the playoffs in consecutive years, right?
)
Big Ray
August 15th, 2011
1:26 pm
Ken ,
What they don’t realize is that they had an opportunistic defense when they won the SB…not a great or even very good defense. They got turnovers. They had Darren Sharper in the secondary. Now who do they have?
We have our own share of secondary issues. But right now? I’d bet my secondary over theirs.
Look at 2010-2011 team stats.
Falcons ranked higher/better than Saints in points given up per game, total points given up, and were fairly close together in comparison in almost every other category.
And that was with us missing the services of one of our starting DTs, starting OLB, and with our NCB position being filled by a mistake prone rookie who was injured (Owens) and vet we lost for the season at one point (Brian Williams).
Now we’re healthy and stronger…
Ken Strickland
August 15th, 2011
3:09 pm
BIG RAY-excellent analysis as always. And I did realize their DEF was the beneficiary of a lot of big plays, rather than solid and consistent DEF. I told these AINT FANATICS not to expect these same past their prime FA’s they went out and signed to have back to back career, or near career yrs, and I was right.
The fact is, none of them even came close and aren’t about to again, even though these DELUSIONAL AINT FANATICS keep hoping against all hope. The truth is, anyone that took an objective look at the AINTS and their 2011 moves and attempted upgrades would be hard pressed to say they did enough to measure up to the 2010 AINTS. I’m not so sure they haven’t taken a step or 2 backwards.
We addressed our pass rushing woes by signing DE REdwards, one of the best and most consistent pass rushing DE on the FA market, while he’s still in his prime. Their solution to their issues with poor run DEF is to sign 350lb DT SRogers, in hopes he can somehow resurrect his 11 yr career after last yrs total disappointment. And to rely on rookie DE CJordan to help resolve their pass rushing woes is a total joke.
They’ve done absolutely nothing to upgrade their DL. In fact, the 2 new additions might be a down grade. They’ve done nothing to upgrade a secondary that made very few big plays and got even fewer INT’s. This yrs pass rush will be even worse than last yrs, considering DE WSmith, their best outside pass rusher by far with only 5.5 sacks, will serve a 4gm suspension.
Their #1 backup DE is 5yr vet JCharleston, who’s registered fewer sacks in his 5yr career(4)than our #1 backup got in his 2nd yr(5)as a backup(5). We’ll have 3 past their prime veterans, DE JAbraham and TE TGonzalez, and all 3 played at or near a Probowl level. The AINTS can’t name a single past their prime veteran that’s played up to any acceptable level. And these clowns are concerned about our depth?
Ken Strickland
August 15th, 2011
3:18 pm
BIG RAY-did you notice how RB JRogers was used? We didn’t throw a single pass his way. He was used exclusively as a rusher. On 3rd and long, a backfield of JSnelling at FB and JRogers at HB will give QB MRyan 2 additional targets, in addition to WR JJones. Our passing OFF might not be as prolific as the AINTS passing OFF, but our overall OFF certainly will be.
With the overall youth, talent, speed, athleticism and depth of the Falcons, we’re only a quality OFF and/or DEF coordinator away from being where the Packers are now.
T. McDonald
August 16th, 2011
8:30 am
Let’s sign Becht… what are they waiting for? Becht and Gonzalez double tight?! Michael Turner could have 2,000 yards, and Matty Ice never gets touched.
Falcons Guru
August 16th, 2011
8:35 am
I actually have to agree with T.Mac. Becht is such an obvious choice. If you are looking for a blocking tight end, it doesn’t get any better, and he could do it for 5 more years. Becht won’t pull down 50 catches a year, but that’s not why you’re bringing him in. Becht as a Falcon – that would be some kind of O-Line.