Falcons Address Plan to Replace James Pearce Jr., Jalon Walker

ATLANTA – After months of anticipation, the hammer finally came down on James Pearce Jr. The Atlanta Falcons' top pass rusher from last season was officially handed an eight-game suspension from the NFL for his February arrest for domestic violence. Meanwhile, Jalon Walker, the first of the two first-round picks from 2025, will miss the entire 2026 season after he tore his ACL during camp.

After making a major investment in the pass rush a season ago – and setting a franchise record in the year that followed – the Falcons will need to improvise for at least the first half of the 2026 season. Both Walker and Pearce came on late in their rookie years, accounting for a combined 14.5 sacks over the final 10 weeks of the season.

They were expected to build on their late-season success, but now the Falcons are left scrambling with one month between now and Week 1 in Pittsburgh.

“Next man up,” newcomer Samson Ebukam said after the game on Friday. “It’s football. It’s the NFL. Obviously, we’ll miss him, but he’s gonna be back. He’s gonna be strong.”

Ebukam will be one of the many players tasked with replicating the production of their two most prominent players. He joins Cameron Thomas, Azeez Ojulari, and Bralen Trice in an uneven edge room that combined for just 4.5 sacks last season. Ojulari and Ebukam have shown flashes of being productive, but the Falcons will be expected to add more bodies ahead of the season in September.

“You gotta stay together as a team and as a unit, and continue to improve every single day,” Ojulari said, echoing Ebukam. “Those guys are still going to be with us throughout the season to help us continue as a group and keep growing. That's all. We got to stay together.”

Inside, the Falcons will lean on Brandon Dorlus (8.5 sacks last season) and Zach Harrison (4.5 sacks in seven games) to help mitigate the loss, but Jeff Ulbrich has a history of bringing pressure from all over the defense. The Falcons will need it.

The defense could get a reprieve from the fresh batch of rookies joining the Falcons this season. Linebackers Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. were versatile pieces at Oklahoma and LSU, with both players showing the ability to line up all over the front seven. They are unlikely to replicate their predecessors' production, but they are athletic defenders Ulbrich could use in disguised blitzes.

Despite losing his two prized edge rushers, head coach Kevin Stefanski remains “confident” that his team has the pieces to make an impact.

“Injuries are a part of this game,” he said. “We talked about that with losing Jalon – we don’t like it, but we trust that we have the guys to step up.”

Pearce, who learned of his fate ahead of Friday night’s preseason game with the Broncos, was one of the only consistent pieces for the defense in the one-sided affair. He came in with the reserves to provide timely pressures and key stops, which only serves as an unfortunate reminder of what the Falcons will be missing until Nov 2.

“We were anticipating a suspension,” Stefanski said, “so we have been pretty intentional about how we've planned it.”

The Falcons find themselves in a difficult position, needing to continue ramping Pearce up for the season while also preparing themselves for the reality that he will not be available for the first two months of the year. Stefanski said there is a plan in place for him, but they “will keep [their] head down and continue to work.”

Pearce left before the media was permitted to enter the locker room and was not available for comment. His suspension will go into effect on Aug 30, and he will be eligible for reinstatement before the Falcons fly to Europe to play the Bengals in Madrid.

Until then, the Falcons will try to mitigate the loss of their two most impactful pass rushers.

“I trust the process that is in place,” the head coach said. “James continues to do everything in his power to be a great teammate and work very hard on himself in the building and outside the building.”

The Falcons open in Pittsburgh on Sept 13. Pearce won't be there, and Walker won't be either. What happens between now and then will determine whether this defense can hold together until at least one of them returns.

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