On Sunday evening, the Atlanta Falcons evened their record on the young 2025 NFL season to 1-1 with a road win over the Minnesota Vikings in front of a nationally televised audience. The win was a showcase for the Falcons' new-look defense, which held the Vikings to just six points and flustered young quarterback JJ McCarthy throughout the evening.
Unfortunately, the Falcons didn't make it through the night unscathed from an injury perspective, as cornerback AJ Terrell went down with a hamstring injury that has him listed as week to week moving forward, per head coach Raheem Morris.
Terrell wasn't the only injury concern that the Falcons had on defense, per Wednesday's practice injury report, which listed rookie edge rusher James Pearce Jr. as also missing practice due to a groin injury, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC on X, formerly Twitter.
Falcons fans will certainly be hoping that both players are back in action and ready to go for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.
A strong bounce back from the Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons felt that they let a golden opportunity slip away during their Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, relinquishing a late touchdown from quarterback Baker Mayfield to rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka that effectively won the game for their NFC South rivals.
On Sunday, no such bad luck occurred, as Atlanta controlled the game from start to finish, with the concerns about their red zone offense ultimately not coming back to bite them in this game.
However, that's still something the Falcons will want to look into improving moving forward, as fans are already growing tired of offensive coordinator Zac Robinson's uninspiring playbook, which has limited how much quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has been able to show off his impressive skillset.
Perhaps facing off against the Panthers' defense on Sunday will give the Falcons the chance to do just that, considering the ineptitude that Carolina has displayed on the defensive side of the ball in recent years.
The Falcons and Panthers are slated to kick things off on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM ET from Charlotte.
