With Saints looming, injuries taking a toll on Atlanta Falcons

October 29, 6:03 PMAtlanta Falcons ExaminerDaniel Cox

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Brian Finneran (right), (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

To often be considered such an unlucky franchise, the Atlanta Falcons in 2008 escaped most of the season without any major injuries on their way to an 11-5 record.

Life in the NFL is often about avoiding injuries and dealing with them when they arise. If anyone felt the Falcons would avoid the injury bug again in 2009, they weren't being completely honest with themselves.

What began in training camp with the loss of second-year wide receiver Harry Douglas gave way to the regular season and the Week 2 loss of the '09 first-round draft pick Peria Jerry. It got worse in Week 6 when veteran cornerback Brian Williams, a leader among a young secondary, went down for the season.

Second-round selection William Moore only managed to find himself healthy for two games this season, before being placed on injured reserve on Tuesday.

Running back Jerious Norwood has been in and out of the lineup with a variety of injuries and missed last week's game in Dallas. The fourth-year running back missed Atlanta's practice on Thursday and his status for the upcoming Monday night matchup with New Orleans is up in the air.

Ovie Mughelli, the fullback that lead the way for running back Michael Turner's Pro Bowl season in 2008, has missed the last two games and could be a reason behind the slow start to the Atlanta running game this season. On Thursday, Mughelli had limited participation in practice, which is encouraging for his return on Monday night.

"Ovie got a full days work in today and it was nice to see him," Head Coach Mike Smith said following Thursday's practice. "We’ve missed him the last two weeks.”

As each week passes in the season, the injury report released by the team grows.

Defensive tackle Thomas Johnson started the season as a backup tackle, providing what appeared to be strong depth to the position. With the Jerry injury he's found himself thrust into the starting lineup. And now he's found himself on the injury report. Injured against Dallas, he did not practice on Thursday with a calf injury. His absence would be damaging to an already thin front line for the Falcons.

One of the few bright spots in the Dallas loss was the convincing running of back Jason Snelling. He ran for 68 yards on seven carries, showing some ability to help be a cog in the return of the ground game. He did not practice Thursday with a hamstring injury.

The list goes on from Thursday: John Abraham (limited with a foot), Jonathan Babineaux (limited with an ankle), Antoine Harris (limited with a knee), Chris Owens (limited with a shoulder).

As more players struggle with injuries, the burden to carry the team not only falls to the remaining veterans, players like linebackers Curtis Lofton and Mike Peterson, but other players like cornerback Chevis Jackson and rookie defensive tackle Vance Walker need to contribute any way they can.

"We’re going to put healthy players that we have available to us, and they’re going to have to step up and make plays," said Smith on Monday. "Anytime you don’t have your front players, it is a concern."

New Orleans hasn't experienced the injury factor quite to the extent of Atlanta, but some injuries are starting to mount. On Thursday they placed starting fullback Heath Evans, an unheralded contributor this season, on injured reserve with a season-ending knee injury.

Starting linebacker Scott Fujita and defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis missed practice on Thursday and could be considered questionable or doubtful for Monday. Tight end Jeremy Shockey was limited in practice on Thursday.

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