One day after being ruled out of this week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, the Atlanta Falcons placed running back Damien Williams on injured reserve with a rib injury.
The move to the IR means that Williams will, for certain, miss at least the next four games.
Williams suffered the injury during the teams’ second drive of last weekend’s disappointing 27-26 loss at home to the New Orleans Saints.
After amassing 2 yards on his first two carries, Williams stated that the injury happened when a defensive lineman fell on him while making a tackle.
“Oh man, all 300 pounds on that little baby rib, man. That’s all it was, man,” Williams stated at the beginning of the week. “All 300 pounds on that little baby rib, man. It got me, though. It got me”
Williams saw a little more action in the fourth quarter, playing a total of ten snaps in the game, but later admitted he was still experiencing soreness on Monday and was going to wait and see what the coaching staff determined with regards to his availability for the Rams game.
Williams signed with Atlanta after spending last season with the Chicago Bears, where he appeared in twelve games and tallied 164 total yards on the ground with two touchdowns. He was expected to split time with Cordarrelle Patterson this season but, in his absence last week, Patterson totaled career highs in carries (22) and rushing yards (120) against New Orleans.
Due to the move, fifth-round rookie Tyler Allgeier will more than likely see a good amount of the playing time for the next four weeks. Despite getting some action with the first team during the preseason, Allgeier was left inactive last week. Recently converted running back Avery Williams is also an option after making the move from cornerback during the offseason but he is also the teams primary return man.
Williams is currently listed second the RB depth chart with Allgeier third and recently promoted practice squad RB Caleb Huntley fourth.