Atlanta Falcons Designate Swing Tackle Storm Norton To Return from IR

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons are designating offensive tackle Storm Norton to return to the practice field, according to head coach Raheem Morris on Wednesday. With this move, the offensive lineman will have 21 days to be activated to the 53-man roster.

“There are no updates from anybody that was on IR other than we activated Storm Norton’s window. Gotta get done some point today,” the Falcons’ head coach said.

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The Falcons’ swing tackle has been sidelined with an ankle injury that he picked up at some point during training camp. Norton underwent ankle surgery in August and spent the next eight weeks on the injured reserve. He was given the designation to return tag, alongside defensive lineman Ta’Quon Graham, who was activated for Sunday’s Week 7 game in San Francisco.

In his place, the Falcons called upon Elijah Wilkinson at the right tackle position to hold the line until he returned. The journeyman offensive lineman has been a steady contributor to what has been one of the NFL’s best offensive lines.

As a team, the Falcons have rushed for 818 yards, the fourth-highest total in the NFL. In terms of total offense, the Falcons have the seventh-highest total (364.3 yards per game) in the league.

Wilkinson has played well enough to the point that Morris was asked during the team’s bye week if there would be a competition between him and Norton. The Falcons’ head coach had this to say about that before the Week 5 bye.

"He's always competitive. You know, Elijah played his best game yesterday, probably as a Falcon. You never want to say that you're not going to be competitive that way, but he's playing well right now. We've got to see when Storm is able to come back, how quickly he can get back involved, and get him into the mix. You know, it's a long season, man, and everybody's going to be a significant contributor at some point. I'm just glad I got him. I'm glad Elijah's been able to play well. It's been great.”

Other options the Falcons have at the tackle position include Michael Jerrell and rookie Jack Nelson. When left tackle Jake Matthews went down in Week 6, Jerrell was the primary fill-in for him that game, and he played the entire second half.

Nothing is official yet until the Falcons choose to activate Norton, but one of those players could be on the outside looking in when he does return in the coming weeks.

The Falcons are set to play the Dolphins in Week 8 action on Sunday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.