Atlanta Falcons: Turner becomes franchise’s all-time TD leader

It was the fourth consecutive home game in which Turner has scored a rushing touchdown. With the 58th score of his tenure as a Falcon, Turner broke the mark previously held by Falcons wide receiver Terance Mathis, who played in Atlanta from 1994 to 2001.

With the Falcons determined to run on the Saints, Turner had 67 yards on five carries in the first quarter. That total was more than he gained in all but three other games this season.

Turner was held to 17 yards on 13 carries Sunday against Tampa Bay.

In the previous meeting with the Saints, Turner was held to 15 yards on 13 carries and was stopped on a key third-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 1:56 to play in the 31-27 loss.

112912 ATLANTA: The Falcons are off and running against the Saints with Michael Turner getting past Jonathan Vilma for yardage during 1st quarter action at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Thursday, November 29, 2012. CURTIS COMPTON / CCOMPTON@AJC.COM

Player safety: Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, a 16-year NFL veteran, is not a fan of Thursday night games.

He doesn’t believe the games give the players’ bodies enough time to recover.

“I’m not a big advocate for it,” Gonzalez said. “I understand why they do it. It’s for the money. It’s not the best thing for football players.”

The league has made player safety a top issue and plans to study the impact of the Thursday night games.

For Thursday games played from 2009-11, data does not suggest that Thursday games are associated with different injury rates compared with games played on other days, according to the league’s injury surveillance system.

There does not appear to be an obvious trend in differing injury rates based on the time interval between games, the league concluded.

The injury rates for Thursday games will be the subject of continuing study, with the data gathered from the full 2012 Thursday schedule.

Injury report: Falcons cornerback Asante Samuel, who has a shoulder injury and was listed as questionable, started but left the game after the first defensive series.

Robert McClain took over his spot in the base defense. In the nickel, McClain went inside, and Christopher Owens took over at left cornerback.

Also, wide receiver Harry Douglas left the game with an ankle injury in the first quarter, but he later returned.

Defensive tackle Peria Jerry, who has a quadriceps injury and was listed as questionable, was declared inactive.

Inactives: In addition to Jerry, quarterback Dominique Davis, defensive end Lawrence Sidbury, wide receiver Tim Toone, guard Harland Gunn, offensive tackle Lamar Holmes, safety Charles Mitchell and guard Phillipkeith Manley also were declared inactive.

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