Offensive linemen Kaleb McGary and Jaylen Mayfield didn’t participate in Monday’s practice ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdowns.
Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith took to the makeshift podium on Monday to explain their absence as well as several other players including defensive back Darren Hall, running back Cordarrelle Patterson, and rookie-wide receiver Drake London.
“McGary…sick, nothing serious,” said Arthur Smith who rarely says more than he has to at press conferences.
“Mayfield, obviously been sick the last couple of days… still got his back, so he’s working through a couple of things.”
“Darren is recovering, nothing major, and he’ll be gone the rest of the week… a personal matter.”
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“Patterson is on his ramp up, recovery plan that we planned out the whole time. You’ll see him back here a week from today.”
Rookie wide receiver hasn’t been participating in the part of practice that the media is allowed to observe, is he on track to play Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints?
“We’ve see him every day,” Smith said when it was mentioned the media hasn’t seen him at practice. “I feel good about where he’s at. I’m not going to make a prediction, but I feel good about where he’s at.”
Tuesday is a big day around the NFL as rosters must be cut down from 80 to 53 players by Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. EST. Then teams have until 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday morning to place a waiver claim on a released player.
Once a player clears waivers, teams can sign him to their 16-player practice squad. The Falcons didn’t make any moves on Monday so the entirety of changes to their 80-man roster will be done today.
How it looks Tuesday at 5 p.m. could be different from how it looks Friday at 5 p.m. once the waiver claims are processed.
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