Two of the Atlanta Falcons’ best skill players are not going to be on the field Friday night when the team faces the New York Jets in a preseason match at MetLife Stadium. According to Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network, Falcons running back Devonta Freeman and wide receiver Julio Jones will not be participating in the game.
Just talked to Dan Quinn. Julio Jones & Devonta Freeman won’t play tonight. #ATLvsNYJ
— Kim Jones (@KimJonesSports) August 10, 2018
Preseason games are merely glorified exhibition contests, so it’s perfectly understandable for the Falcons to keep their star players on the sidelines instead of putting them at risk of sustaining injuries in a meaningless outing.
Instead, expect the Falcons to heavily feature their rookies like first-rounder wide receiver Calvin Ridley and running backs Ito Smith and Justin Crawford. Tevin Coleman is also unlikely to see plenty of snaps in the Jets game – if he plays at all.
Julio Jones once appeared to be on his way to missing the training camp and even the preseason because of a looming hold out, but a reworked deal with the Falcons have kept that from happening. If anything, Jones said that he was not really going to miss any phase of the team's offseason schedule with or without a contract adjustment.
As for Devonta Freeman, he dealt with MCL and PLC injuries last season, and while he did not have to go under the knife, there’s no urgent reason for Atlanta to send him to the field later tonight.
The Falcons had lost in each of their last four preseason games.
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