The Atlanta Falcons received some bad news regarding their veteran cornerback on Tuesday morning. The team announced that Casey Hayward has been placed on the injured reserve list after suffering a shoulder injury in Sunday's win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Hayward, 33, will miss at least the next four week due to this designation.
Now with the Cincinnati Bengals coming to town featuring the likes of Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, and Tee Higgins, it becomes paramount that the Falcons figure things out quickly. Wes Durham, the voice of the Atlanta Falcons, joined Dukes & Bell following the announcement to discuss where the team will turn following the news about Hayward.
"No question, Casey Hayward's a loss," Wes Durham told Dukes & Bell on Tuesday afternoon. "[He is] a guy that was doing a great job, not only in terms of his production but also a tremendous job in terms of leadership on the back-end. Now you’ve got to pivot a little bit, but this is what the league is."
So who could the Falcons turn to? One option could be Isaiah Oliver, a guy that hasn't been featured very much on the perimeter to this point in the season.
"I think it's going to be interesting to see how you incorporate Isaiah Oliver a little more, too," Durham said. "[Isaiah Oliver] has kind of been exclusively in the slot, but now maybe you maybe some of the things you got done with Isaiah before the injury last year could be applicable now."
Another option could be Darren Hall.
Hall stepped in for the injured Hayward (and A.J. Terrell, who had left with an apparent hamstring injury) and played very well. The fourth-round pick from the 2021 NFL Draft finally got his opportunity after playing a mere 47 snaps in the first five games of the NFL season.
Garoppolo targeted Hall as soon as he entered the game, and the second-year cornerback had two tremendous pass breakups against Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel on subsequent plays -- one of which turned into the second interception of the day.
Hayward signed with his hometown team this offseason and has been a tremendous addition to the Falcons' defense in more ways than one. His contributions will certainly be missed, but that's the way of the NFL and it's all about the next man up.