Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu is expected to miss two-to-three weeks with a hamstring injury, reports Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com, while defensive lineman Jack Crawford has a biceps issue which “doesn’t look good,” a source tells McClure. Atlanta is “planning on moving forward” without Crawford, tweets D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an indication Crawford could be done for the season.
Sanu’s injury is doubly concerning given that Falcons No. 1 wideout Julio Jones left the club’s Week 4 loss with a hip flexor. Jones is not expected to miss any games, but his health history isn’t exactly promising. Without Sanu, Atlanta will turn to Taylor Gabriel, Justin Hardy, Andre Roberts, and Nick Williams to play more snaps. Through four games, Sanu had managed 16 receptions for 163 yards and one touchdown.
Atlanta’s defensive line hardly withstand another loss, as Vic Beasley will be sidelined for another three weeks or so while Courtney Upshaw is also dealing with injury. Crawford, who signed as a free agent this offseason, has played on roughly 40% of the Falcons’ defensive snaps, but graded as just the No. 82 interior defender among 120 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
Head coach Dan Quinn will meet with Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff about adding defensive line reinforcements, per McClure (Twitter link). The obvious free agent solution could speculatively be Dwight Freeney, who appeared in 15 games for Atlanta in 2016. Quinn said last month that the Falcons are still in contact with Freeney, but the club had no interest in signing him at that time.