It has been a tough start to the 2018 season for Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman that has been largely hampered by injuries that have severely limited his availability to play.
This has taken yet another turn further south as the Falcons are set to place Freeman on the injured reserve on Tuesday, according to Jay Glazer of NFL on Fox. This has been further clarified by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network that he is going to undergo groin surgery that could put him back in play at some point later this season.
#Falcons RB Devonta Freeman is having groin surgery, source said. He’s headed to Injured Reserve but could potentially come back if all goes well. https://t.co/4vKG3x4XmI
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 16, 2018
This is a significant loss in the backfield for the Falcons as he has been a constant major factor in the offense when healthy. Freeman has proven to be a reliable option that can be utilized as a dual-threat running back that provides another element to the offense. He had missed last Sunday’s 34-29 win to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to a foot injury, but it appears that he is also dealing with a groin issue. Freeman had been able to make his return to the field in Sunday’s 41-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers where he notched 32 rushing yards on eight attempts along with two catches for nine yards.
Prior to that, he had suffered a knee contusion in the season opener loss to the Philadelphia Eagles had kept him out of action for three straight games. This has limited him to just 68 rushing yards on 14 attempts along with five catches for 23 receiving yards in two games played this year.
All of this should immediately shut down any realistic possibility that the Falcons would move on from running back Tevin Coleman with the Indianapolis Colts voicing their interest in him. Instead, Coleman will be heavily relied upon as the primary running back moving forward until Freeman returns to the mix if at all the rest of this season. He has posted 260 rushing yards and a touchdown along with 13 catches for 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the first six games played.
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