Key Falcons Defender Returns to Action, 2 Quarterbacks Left Inactive vs. Packers

The Atlanta Falcons will have nickel Billy Bowman Jr. back on the game-day roster. They also elevated another defender from the practice squad.

Atlanta Falcons nickel Billy Bowman Jr. returns to the active game-day roster for the first time since tearing his Achilles. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Atlanta Falcons’ secondary got a major boost from their promising cornerback just an hour before Thursday Night Football kicks off.

Billy Bowman Jr. is set to return against the Green Bay Packers tonight, as Atlanta hits Lambeau Field for the NFL Week 3 showdown. 

He’s returning from a ruptured Achilles during a team walkthrough last November, and was cleared this August before the regular season kicked off. However, the second-year cornerback and 2025 fourth-round NFL Draft pick was working to get confidence back in his leg.

Bowman will be key to Atlanta’s collection of defensive backs, as cornerback AJ Terrell Jr. has been placed on injured reserve with a groin injury. As a rookie last season, Bowman contributed 26 tackles, 15 solo, two pass deflections, an interception, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in six games.

Another activation to the Falcons’ defense is outside linebacker Bralen Trice, whom Atlanta used a standard practice elevation on. 

Inactives for tonight are headlined by quarterback Cooper Rush, who struggled in Atlanta’s Week 1 and 2 losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers. He’ll be the emergency third quarterback, as Michael Penix Jr. returns from a partially torn left ACL to be the starter. Tua Tagovailoa will serve as the backup.

Fan favorite rookie quarterback Jack Strand is inactive. Rookie offensive tackle Ethan Onianwa 

Defensive inactives are defensive end Samson Ebukam and defensive backs Malcolm DeWalt IV and Robert Longerbeam.

Falcons (0-2)-Packers (1-1) kicks off at 8:15 p.m. from Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Amazon Prime will televise the game. It is the Falcons’ first of three consecutive NFL primetime games.

Atlanta’s last visit to Lambeau ended in a 30-16 loss in November 2020. The last time the opponents met was in Atlanta. The Falcons squeezed out a 25-24 victory in September 2023.

The Falcons on SI staff are split on the outcome, with Darius Hayes, Scott Kennedy, and Garrett Chapman picking a victory for Green Bay. Jerry Jones and Gerald Thomas III chose the Falcons to win the Week 3 game.

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