Atlanta Falcons Place Linebacker on Injured Reserve

The Atlanta Falcons will be without one of their defensive mainstays for the first four games of the season. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero announced that the team has placed linebacker Deion Jones on injured reserve:

The #Falcons placed five players on injured reserve, including LB Deion Jones.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 1, 2022

The move is somewhat surprising as Jones returned to practice last week after a long layoff following a shoulder injury. He even started in the team's preseason finale. Apparently, the team saw something that indicated he wasn't quite ready to go.

Jones has been a constant presence for the Falcons since they drafted him 52nd overall out of LSU in the 2016 NFL Draft, starting 83 games across his six seasons and even making a Pro Bowl in 2017. Yet he has been the subject of much consternation for Falcons fans of late, with last year's disastrous Pro Football Focus overall grade of 34.6 sparking discussion that he could be traded or cut outright. Given that a departure never manifested, the Falcons must hope that his ugly 2021 season was an aberration, and he can rediscover the solid play that made him one of the league's highest-paid linebackers.