FRIDAY INJURY REPORT
CINCINNATI BENGALS
–OUT: RB Joe Mixon (knee), C Billy Price (foot)
ATLANTA FALCONS
–OUT: CB Justin Bethel (knee), RB Devonta Freeman (knee), DE Derrick Shelby (groin)
PLAYER NOTES
–S Ricardo Allen was placed on injured reserve with an Achilles injury and is out for the season. His recovery time is estimated at six months.
–LB Bruce Carter was added to the active roster. He was the Cowboys second-round pick in 2011 and has played for the Cowboys, Bucs and Jets during his seven-year career.
–S Sharrod Neasman has been added to the active roster. He played 11 games with the Falcons in 2017 as Keanu Neal’s backup. He will likely be included into the secondary rotation this week.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: CB Desmond Trufant. He will be asked to help with the coverage of Cincinnati WR A.J. Green. Trufant is considered the team’s lockdown corner and will need all his skills to stop Green, who has 16 catches and four touchdown receptions this year. Green left the game against Carolina in the third quarter with a groin injury but has insisted that he will be well enough to play against the Falcons. He had five passes for 58 yards against the Panthers before his injury. Green, who played locally at the University of Georgia, was injured and unable to play against the Falcons when the teams last met in 2014. The Falcons have been good at preventing the deep ball. They are the only defense in the league that has not allowed a completion on a pass that has traveled 21-plus yards in the air.
GAME PLAN: The Falcons have been unable to get any consistent heat on the quarterback the last two weeks (Cam Newton, Drew Brees) and will need to do better in that regard against the Bengals’ Andy Dalton. With at least three starters out (and likely more) Atlanta will need to get an effective pass rush from Vic Beasley Jr., who picked up his first sack last week, and Grady Jarrett. Dalton is generally underrated by most opponents even though he’s won 58.9 percent of his starts, best in franchise history. This season he’s completed 63.8 percent of his throws and only been sacked four times in three games. However, Dalton has already been intercepted five times.
QUOTES TO NOTE: Dan Quinn on the speed of the Cincinnati receivers and secondary: “That’s one thing in my offseason study of them that what I’ve noticed about them. The skill guys they have offensively and the corners and the safeties they have. I think you’ll be intrigued when you see the matchups and how they all play out.”
–WR Calvin Ridley on the improvement in the red zone: “We just been practicing very well. We go out there and put the work in and we get off the field. That is what we’ve been doing every day.”
–QB Matt Ryan on the improvement of the offense: “I think we can play with a lot of confidence. The production has been there. We’ve done a lot of really good things. We can be a lot better, too.”
–Quinn on the message after the 1-2 start: “One of the topics we talk about is just owning now. We have a real process that we go through to get ready. Don’t B.S. yourself on that. If there’s stuff we need to work on and shine a light on, let’s make sure we do it.”
–Quinn on the depleted defense and whether it can meet his competitive standards: “Hell, yes, I do. I have real confidence in the way that they’ll approach it. We don’t play it the same way in terms of matchups, but our style at how we play will be really similar. We’re committed to teaching the principles of how we play.”
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Falcons C Alex Mack vs. Bengals DT Geno Atkins. The Falcons will try to keep Ryan upright against a solid Cincinnati rush, led by University of Georgia grad Atkin. He has three sacks and last year led NFL interior linemen for the third straight year. Mack is an All-Pro center but has struggled at times against the more physical linemen.
–Falcons WR Julio Jones vs. Bengals CB William Jackson. Jones will be a test for Jackson, the team’s first-round pick in 2016. Jackson seems to rise to the occasion; he had a 75-yard pick-six against Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers last year. Jones has 20 catches for 329 yards and caught a 58-yarder against New Orleans.
–Falcons MLB Duke Riley vs. Bengals RB Giovani Bernard. Riley will be asked to pick up Bernard, who has become one of Andy Dalton’s favorite targets. “I definitely have a comfort level with him back there,” Dalton said. The Bengals are 9-1-1 when Bernard has at least 15 rushing attempts.
