As the Atlanta Falcons face the Washington Commanders this Sunday, they look to have their top pass-catching option wide receiver Drake London available as he deals with a knee injury. While London’s issue didn’t appear to be serious, he would tell reporters Thursday that he is “fine” according to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi.
The 23-year-old would leave the blowout win over the New York Giants last Sunday, but head coach Raheem Morris would say after the game that he could have gone back in if it wasn’t for the lopsided score. London would finish the game with five catches for 59 yards in his first game with new quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the rookie who played over Kirk Cousins.
“I believe he could have gone back in,” Morris said. “I look forward to him being able to practice next week.”
As it appears the Falcons receiver’s injury isn’t serious and will play in a crucial game Sunday against the Commanders, Penix will have the receiver duo of London and Darnell Mooney, who have a chance to be a historic pairing for the franchise.
Falcons’ Drake London is part of the reason for hopeful playoff push
Each of them is on the cusp of crossing the 1,000-yard threshold, which would be the first time since 2012 (Julio Jones and Roddy White) that two receivers on Atlanta reach the mark, which would not be surprising to offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
“In free agency, Darnell was our top target to try to get to complement Drake’s skillset,” Robinson said Tuesday via Sports Illustrated. “His speed and one-on-one ability was something we all liked. So, once the guys in the front office did a great job of pulling those guys in here, along with (tight end) Charlie Woerner, we were all excited.”
“As we started putting this whole thing together in the spring, you could see how it could complement, how they could work well together,” Robinson continued. “It’s kind of just grown and taken a life of its own…But credit to those guys and just their work they put in from the spring, and they’re both having great seasons.”
At any rate, Atlanta looks to have a healthy offense heading into the matchup against the Commanders where the team is 8-7 which leads them in the NFC South as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are second with the same record. They control their own destiny in making a playoff appearance by winning out, which starts facing Washington and then in the regular season finale against the Carolina Panthers on Jan. 5.
