Falcons' Jeff Okudah Out Several Weeks; Who's Up Next at CB?
The Atlanta Falcons were in the midst of a smooth, drama-free training camp prior to Wednesday, when a trio of players - offensive lineman Ethan Greenidge, defensive lineman Ikenna Enechukwu and tight end Feleipe Franks - all sustained injuries that ultimately ended their season.
And on Friday, the misfortune kept rolling, this time stretching into the starting lineup, as cornerback Jeff Okudah went down with a right ankle injury before being carted off the field.
Okudah underwent an MRI on Friday afternoon, which netted "very positive" results, as Falcons coach Arthur Smith revealed the former No. 3 overall pick should be back in the early weeks of the regular season.
But in the meantime, throughout the rest of training camp, the preseason, and perhaps stretching into the regular season, how do the Falcons plan on replacing Okudah after seemingly anointing him the starter opposite A.J. Terrell immediately following his acquisition?
The early answer appears to be veteran Tre Flowers, who took over Okudah's spot on the outside for the remainder of Friday's practice and much of Saturday's.
Flowers, 28, is entering his sixth NFL season, having spent the first three and a half years of his career with the Seattle Seahawks and the rest with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The 6-3, 200-pound Flowers has played in 71 games with 43 starts and has four interceptions, 20 passes defended, 262 tackles, three tackles for loss and five forced fumbles.
Last season, Flowers played 63 percent of the Bengals' special teams snaps and 17 percent of defensive snaps, logging 27 tackles, three passes defended and one interception while largely serving as a "big nickel" who covered tight ends on third downs and in the red zone.
Earlier in camp, Smith noted that Flowers "shows up," and that you can "feel his size" on the perimeter. Following Okudah's injury, Smith touched once more on what Flowers brings to the table.
“Tre has experience," Smith said. "He’s a veteran, he’s played multiple roles. He’s one of the guys I think is competing well out there."
Flowers has largely served as one of two second-string outside corners, the other being Cornell Armstrong, who Smith said a few days ago "just continues to get better."
When discussing depth in the secondary, Smith was quick to point out Armstrong, who played in nine games with four starts for the Falcons last season, defending seven passes and allowing completions on just 55.8 percent of his targets.
Throughout camp, the 27-year-old Armstrong has more often found himself in better position to play the ball than Flowers, but both players have had the natural ups and downs that come with playing corner at the sport's highest level.
Beyond the two second-team corners, there's Dee Alford, Clark Phillips III and Mike Hughes, the three contenders to start at nickel corner, but each brings the ability to play on the outside.
Alford, as things stand, will almost certainly start in the slot, but he starred on the outside in the CFL, to the extent that he was an All-Star and his team's defensive rookie of the year. That said, if the Falcons wanted to get creative and slide him outside, there's certainly depth inside to make that work.
However, Phillips comes with a similar background, having won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season after playing almost exclusively on the perimeter; sure, his 5-9, 183-pound build is concerning, but outliers exist - just look at New York Jets starter D.J. Reed (5-9, 187 pounds), for instance.
During the draft, Smith said that Phillips "can do both" in regard to playing inside and outside, while vice president of player personnel Kyle Smith dubbed him "an inside-out flex guy." In essence, the staff believes he's capable of playing on the outside as a professional, and his strong camp may give him a shot to prove it sooner than expected.
Hughes is also an interesting option, carrying experience both inside and outside, but he noted during his introductory press conference that Atlanta liked him in the slot; he did, however, note that things happen across a 17-game season, and he believed he'd see time on the perimeter, as well.
Throughout camp, nearly all of the snaps from Alford, Phillips and Hughes have come inside, though the latter received a few reps on the outside during Saturday's installation period.
These are just the names that Smith mentioned - there are plenty of others in the mix, headlined by third-year pro Darren Hall, who saw significant action outside last season and was praised by Smith for his flashes earlier this week.
As such, the Falcons feel confident in the group that's been assembled, and while they certainly hope Okudah won't miss too much regular season action, there's a level of quiet belief that things will be just fine regardless.
"We have a lot of depth at a lot of spots," Smith said on Friday. "We feel like we have depth and that’s been good competition. ... There’s a lot of really good competition and we feel we have good depth in the DB room.
"If it’s something short-term, someone’s got to step up.”
And from the looks of it, there's a large group of corners lining up to do exactly that - with Flowers seemingly poised to get the first crack.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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