Falcons defensive end James Pearce Jr. made his season debut on Sunday after serving an eight-game suspension. Pearce played only 15 snaps in the loss to the Bengals, though, after back tightness late last week.
He had no stats.
Pearce rehabbed Wednesday, sitting out practice.
The Falcons also practiced without wide receiver Zachariah Branch (hamstring), linebacker Josh Woods (ankle) and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. (illness).
Linebacker Divine Deablo, who played with his arm wrapped against Cincinnati, was limited.
Falcons Clips
While it looked at first on Sunday like Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had suffered a significant elbow injury, it turns out he hasn’t even missed any practice time.
Kansas City listed Mahomes as a full participant in Wednesday’s practice.
Mahomes said in his press conference that he’s in a better spot now, particularly after going through an MRI that did not reveal anything too serious.
"[A]nytime you get in there, you never know what it’s going to show on the machine after,” Mahomes said. “And so, you can feel as optimistic as you do, but then you get in there, and something happens. And so, obviously after talking to the doctors and stuff like that, I feel like I’m in a great spot. Now it’s just about pain and pain management and stuff like that, which I’ll try to do whatever I can to be in the best place possible.”
Mahomes noted he’ll have to do a lot of work in the building and at home to ensure he’s in a good spot for Sunday. But he’s prepared to do so.
“I’ll be able to be out on the practice field, throw the football, and do all that different type of stuff,” Mahomes said. “We’ll continue this process throughout the entire week so I can be 100 percent on Sunday whenever we get to Atlanta. So, it’s a process — a lot more time in the building. But that’s something that I’m willing to do.”
Also on the injury report, right tackle Jaylon Moore (ankle) and defense lineman Peter Woods (neck) did not practice.
Defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott (knee) was limited as he returns from injured reserve.
Cornerback Mansoor Delane (shoulder), receiver Xavier Worthy (hamstring), receiver Rashee Rice (knee), quarterback Justin Fields (shoulder), linebacker Jeff Bassa (hand), safety Jaden Hicks (shoulder), and tight end Travis Kelce (ankle) were all full.
The Giants didn’t make any big deals at the trade deadline, but they tried to make a very big one.
The Giants called the Falcons to see whether running back Bijan Robinson was available in a trade, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.
That would have been a blockbuster, but it’s unsurprising that the teams didn’t make a deal. The Falcons made a big investment in Robinson this offseason, signing him to a three-year, $66.8 million contract extension, and from all accounts they view him as one of the most important pieces of their franchise.
There’s no word on what the Giants were willing to offer, or whether the Falcons engaged at all, or simply told the Giants, “Not interested.”
The Giants did make one big trade this season, acquiring J.J. McCarthy, who has played well enough for the Giants to win their first two starts and remain in first place in the NFC East. Acquiring Robinson would have been a strong sign that the Giants believe they’re serious contenders, this year. That the Giants even tried showed that coach John Harbaugh meant it when he said they’re a team trying to win now, not build for the future.
The Falcons and Ravens executed one last trade before the 4 p.m. ET deadline.
Baltimore has acquired offensive lineman Ryan Neuzil in exchange for offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees and a 2028 sixth-round pick.
Neuzil is in the final year of his contract. He’s primarily played center for Atlanta, which could signal a move back to guard for Cam Jurgens, who the Ravens also recently acquired.
Baltimore has been ailing along the interior of its offensive line all season.
Neuzil has appeared in 69 career games with 38 starts, all for Atlanta.
Vorhees has appeared in 37 career games with 22 starts, including five appearances with two starts in 2026.
The Falcons are swapping out one kicker for another.
Atlanta is signing Jake Moody off of Baltimore’s practice squad and releasing Nick Folk, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Folk missed a field goal in two consecutive games and has made just 13-of-18 this season. He’s also missed an extra point, going 17-of-18 in the category in nine games.
With Tyler Loop on injured reserve, Moody was elevated from the practice squad and served as Baltimore’s kicker for Thursday’s loss to the Jaguars. He made a 53-yard field goal and an extra point.
Moody kicked for three different teams last season, finishing 19-of-23 on field goals and 15-of-16 on extra points.
Baltimore will need another kicker with Loop on IR for at least few more weeks.
It’s Let’s Make A Deal day in the NFL, with the window on trades closing at 4:00 p.m. ET. And the deals made on Monday could become a complication.
The Jaguars gave up a lot for two of the three players they acquired. As to safety Jessie Bates III, it was a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick. For defensive tackle Jordan Davis (a run-stopper with 52-percent playing time), it was a first-round pick and a second-round pick.
Those deals will hover over today’s talks. Teams that are considering trading players will, at some level, be concerned about the perception that they didn’t get enough, relative to what the Jaguars invested on Monday.
If the Jaguars intended that, they’re next-level super geniuses. Go all in, acquire players who’ll help the team get to the Super Bowl and win it, and make it harder for other contenders to do the same thing today.
As it relates to Jacksonville receiver Brian Thomas Jr., a first-round pick in 2024 who had 1,282 yards as a rookie and doesn’t fit the current offense, that could also result in a better haul, if/when the Rams join the effort (which includes the Chiefs, Steelers, and Commanders) to wrest Thomas away from the Jaguars.
Regardless of the motivation(s), Monday’s trades by the Jaguars could make it harder for deals to get done on Tuesday. Most notably, it could make the Colts decide not to take the best offer on the table for running back Jonathan Taylor.
With the Giants offering a two and a five, would the Colts be willing to accept for Taylor what the Jaguars gave up for Bates? How much more will it take to get the Colts to believe it’s a proper return given the investment made in getting Bates?
However it plays out, if not much happens at the deadline, the wrench thrown into the gears by the Jaguars could be a factor in that.
The Chiefs have a clear and obvious kicking problem.
Harrison Butker officially missed one more field goal on Sunday, sailing a 51-yard attempt wide right.
But everyone also saw him miss from 56 a snap before — a play that didn’t count because of a Jets penalty.
Butker has now missed 17 kicks over the last two seasons, which is a league-high.
Kansas City has Justin Tucker on its practice squad, and he would ostensibly be the next man up. But in his Monday news conference, Reid told reporters that he wasn’t ready to commit to any changes at kicker.
“With Butker, I haven’t made any decisions yet,” Reid said. “I’m going to evaluate everything and go forward from there. Again, I haven’t decided on reps during practice, I haven’t done any of that right now. Just going through it, evaluating. And we’ll go from there.”
Butker has made just 12-of-19 field goals so far this season. He’s also missed an extra point.
We’ll see if Reid has more to say about his kicker situation when the Chiefs start their practice week on Wednesday.
The Falcons traded veteran safety Jessie Bates to the Jaguars today, which some might see as a sign that the Falcons don’t see themselves as contenders and are looking ahead at 2027. Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski says that’s not the case.
Stefanski did acknowledge that the Falcons are building for the future, but he also noted that in the NFC South, Atlanta remains very much in contention at 3-6.
“You guys know how I feel about Jessie the person, Jessie the player,” Stefanski told reporters. “But at the same time, this is football, where sometimes you have one foot in the short term, one foot in the long term. There’s things like this that make your team better in the long run. Draft picks are the life blood of an organization. That’s something we believe in.
Stefanski said he wants fans to know that they still are going to compete to win the NFC South.
“Our fans are smart enough to know that in no way, shape or form would we punt on this season. We have three wins, just like the rest of our division. Obviously not where we want to be, we want to play better, but we’re in the thick of this thing and we trust in the guys we have,” Stefanski said.
The Falcons might not be punting on the season, but they are deciding to move on from a player who can help them this season and get draft picks for future seasons. The Falcons still might win the worst division in football, but today’s trade is not the trade of a team that thinks it’s a Super Bowl contender this year.
While Patrick Mahomes’ elbow injury looked bad when it happened on Sunday, he was able to finish the game, helping power the Chiefs to a 35-12 win over the Jets.
It sounds like he might not miss any further playing time either.
“Patrick, he is really day-to-day right now,” head coach Andy Reid told reporters in his Monday news conference. “It was more positive news than negative news on Patrick. It looks like it’s just a matter of some rehab in there and getting rid of some of the soreness. And we’ll just see where it goes from there.
“But he’s in good spirits today — I have seen him today, so he’s in good spirits today.”
Mahomes suffered the injury late in the first half. In the third quarter, he completed 7-of-10 passes for 81 yards. He was 5-of-6 for 41 yards in the fourth quarter.
Additionally, Reid mentioned Xavier Worthy (hamstring) and Jaylon Moore (ankle) are day-to-day with their respective injuries.
The Chiefs will be on the road to play the Falcons in Week 10. The first injury report of the week will be issued on Wednesday.
The Jaguars announced their trade for safety Jessie Bates on Monday.
Bates is headed to Jacksonville to strengthen a position that’s been hit by injuries this season. Eric Murray will miss the rest of the year with an elbow injury and Antonio Johnson missed Week 8 with an ankle injury before returning for last Thursday’s win over the Ravens.
“Jessie has been a proven playmaker on the defensive side of the ball for the last 8+ seasons,” Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone said in a statement. “His skillset complements our style of play and the person he is aligns with our culture. We look forward to integrating Jessie into our team as we prepare for the back half of the season.”
The Jaguars are sending a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-rounder to the Falcons. The Falcons also agreed to pay the bulk of Bates’s salary for the rest of this season. Bates is set to be a free agent in March.
Bates was a second-team All-Pro for the third time in his career last season. He has one interception this season and had 14 in his three-plus years with the Falcons.
